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THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 

ITS ARCHITECTURE 
ART AND HISTORY 



BY 

GEORGE C. HAZELTON, Jr. 

AUTHOR OF "mistress NELL," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 






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"Ah, to build, to build! 
That is the noblest art of all the arts." 

Longfellow's '''Michael Angela. ^^ 



NEW YORK 

J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY 
1902 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two CoH.cfa RgceivEO 

NOV, 19 1902 

Copyright entrv 

CLASsCX^XXc. No. 

COPY A. 



Copyright, 1897, by 
GEORGE C. HAZELTON, Jr. 

AND 

HOWARD F. KENNEDY 

Copyright, 1902, by 

J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY, 

New York 



Published October, igoa 




9 6-8454 86 



PREFACE 



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atio 
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^J presenting this book to the public, it is deemed just to say that the idea 

citing a history of the Capitol was first urged upon the author by Captain 

Ixd F. Kennedy, and that, in the preparation of the work, he has coUabo- 

)by furnishing facts and data collected by him during his long associ- 

n with the building, and embraced in his lecture, familiar to tourists and 

ly others. 

^his production is submitted to the public with the hope that it may 

It a generous welcome at their hands. If it fails to enlarge the scope of 

cmation already accumulated by other writers, or to awaken in the minds 

hearts of the people greater interest and pride in their Capitol— the great 

m of the law-making power of the government — such a result cannot be 

ibuted to a want of careful research or long-continued faithful labor. 

To the student and lover of architecture, it is hoped that these pages may 

fit the way the builders took from the first foundation stone to the last 

d crowning piece upon the dome ; to the lover of art and to the student of 

iory, oratory and statesmanship, that they may serve as a key of intelli- 

e by which to read the story of the nation upon the walls of her classic 

ze, and to unravel its mysteries and reveal its hidden glories. But, 

- all, it is most desired that the volume shall, present a somewhat com- 

prehcx.^^.^^ view of the grandeur of the National Capitol and its true charac- 
*^^ ^^ ian expression of the development of free government and the progress 

of Am(rj . • M ...• 

^ncan civilization, 
^^^ijnuscript correspondence between the early Presidents, Commissioners, 
archite ^^^ contractors, in the archives of the War Department, plans in 



the Ar( 
have b 
text ; 
manusc 
have b< 
story 
light cji 
correr 
allow* 
in re 



;hitect's office and files of old newspapers in the Library of Congress, 

een examined by the author, and are the authority for much of the 

Annals, Globes, Records, Secret Journals, American State Papers, and 

ript letters also in the possession of the government and of individuals 

jen assiduously sought and read. An effort has been made to tell the 

E the Capitol, its architecture and art, so far as possible, through the 

if historical events and individual biography, as more likely to reveal 

tly the human side of the great national structure ; and if the author has 

3d a little moss to cling to the old stones, it is because he believes that 

.nance and tradition much of their most delightful truth lies hidden. 



G. C. H., Jr. 



\SHINGTON, D. C, 1897. 



# 



/ 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

City of Washington J 

Early Plans and Architects 14 

Original Corner-Stone . 22 

Old Capitol ^. . 25 

Burning of the Capitol, 1S14 33 

Re-assembling of Congress 38 

The Rebuilding of the Capitol 41 

Marble Extensions 51 

The Dome ■ 60 

The Terrace 67 

The Campus^ 74 

Eastern Approach 8b 

The Rotunda 94 

The Congressional Library 134 

Supreme Court Chamber . . ' 140 

Senate Wing , • • ■ • ^57 

Ground Floor 182 

House Wing ■ i94 

Statuary Hall . 218 

Latter-Day Happenings 238 

Miscellaneous 249 

Appendix . . . • • 263 

Index 299 



THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 



CITY OF WASHINGTON 

In fancy now, beneath the twihght gloom, 
Come, let me lead thee o'er this " second Rome !" 
Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow, 
And what was Goose-Creek once is Tiber now : — 
This embrio capital, where Fancy sees 
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees ; 
Which second-sighted seers, e'en now, adorn 
With shrines unbuilt and heroes yet unborn. 
Though naught but Woods and Jefferson they see. 
Where streets should run and sages oiight to be. 



Tom Moore. 



In the old days all roads led to Rome : to-day all roads lead to Washing- 
ton. The eyes of the world are upon her great Capitol : the poor look to it 
as the bulwark of liberty and prosperity; the rich for protection of vested 
rights; the savage for learning and assistance ; the jurist for law; the politi- 
cian as the goal of his ambition; the statesman for the science of progressive 
government ; the diplomat as the place wherein to play the game of nations ; 
and the sovereigns of Europe in apprehension, for on its walls is written in 
blood : " The divine right of kings is the divine right of the people." It is 
the abode of the Goddess of Freedom in the New World. 

No matter from which direction the pilgrim approaches the Federal City, 
whether by land or by water, the white dome of the National Capitol, that 
shrine of the world's oppressed, is almost the first sight to gladden his eye. 

We have but to glance at the map of the globe, to see that Babylon, 
Nineveh, Tyre, Carthage, Constantinople, Venice, St. Petersburg, London, 
Paris, New York, Chicago and most of the other great cities of ancient and 
modern times have sprung up upon the low lands near the sea, or upon some 
of its great tributaries, where they have been nourished by commerce. Wash- 
ington, too, stretches back from the banks of a great tributary, but it was not, 
like most of these, chance-directed in its line of growth, though the original 
intention of the President, the Commissioners and the engineers has in part 



; > 



2 The National Capitol 

miscarried. Nor was it, like others, planned by some potentate for his own 
delectation and power. It is the only city designed for the capital of a 
nation which has been projected practically in a wilderness in accordance 
with pre-arranged plans dictated by the will of the people themselves through 
their representatives. 

Even before the Constitution was adopted, in 1785, a commission had 
been appointed by Congress with power to select upon the Delaware a site 
for a national capital, and to make contracts for the erection of a suitable 
President's house, houses for the Secretaries and a Federal House; but this 
commission had taken no action. 

The District of Coliinibia was established under the 8th Section and 
ist Article of the Constitution of the United States : " Congress shall have 
power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such dis- 
trict (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the 
United States." In pursuance of this provision, the State of T^Iarjd and passed, 
December 23, 1788, " An act to cede to Congress a District of ten miles square 
in this State, for the Seat of the Government of the United States." The State 
of Virginia patriotically followed, December 3, 1789, with "An act for the 
cession of ten miles square, or any lesser quantity of territory within this 
State to the United States in Congress assembled, for the permanent seat of 
the General Government." 

/The final step was taken on the i6th of July, 1790, when President Wash- 
ington, then in his first term of office, signed the Senate bill establishing the 
future seat of government upon the banks of the Potomac^ Yet even this act 
left indefinite the location of the District, save that it must be between the 
mouths of the Eastern Branch and the Connogochegue. The President was 
to appoint three Commissioners, who, under his direction, were to survey, and, 
by proper metes and bounds, define and limit the required territor}^ These 
Commissioners, or any two of them, were given power also to purchase or 
accept such quantity of land as the President thought proper for the use of 
the United States, and were to provide " suitable buildings for the accommo- 
dation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public offices of the 
government " prior to the first Monday in December, 1800; but all according 
to such plans as the President should approve. The only substantial limi- 
tation made by the law was that the sites for the public buildings should be 
upon the eastern or Maryland side of the river. To defray the expenses of 
such purchases and buildings, the President was " authorized and requested 
to accept grants of money." On the above date, the seat of government and 
all its offices were to be removed to the new District. Meanwhile, they were 
to remain in New York until December, 1790, after which they were to be' 
located in Philadelphia. 



The National Capitol 3 

This action of Congress was tlie culmination of a long and acrimonious 
debate springing from State jealousy and personal feeling, in which the inter- 
ests of New York and Germantown were vigorously presented, together with 
locations upon the Susquehanna and the Delaware. The meager reports of the 
prolonged contest in the early annals of Congress are interesting and instruc- 
tive, revealing, as they do, the primitive condition of the country at that 
time, the bitter sectionalism which prevailed, and the ignorance of the best 
minds regarding the topography of the States, together with their inability 
to anticipate the facilities for quick communication, tiansportation and com- 
merce in store for the infant Republic. Madison, Ames, Sherman, Lee and 
others were active in debate. Mr. Burke " thought a populous city better 
than building a palace in the woods"; while Mr. George , Thatcher, the 
witty and learned representative from Massachusetts, exclaimed, with some 
degree of impatience at the debate, that " it was not of two paper dollars' 
consequence to the United States whether Congress sat at New York, at Phila- 
delphia, or on the Potomac.'.' 

Jefferson in his ana records a bit of inside history regarding the final settle- 
ment of the controversy by Congress in favor of the Potomac, and only the 
growth of the city and its grandeur to-day compensate for the somewhat 
doubtful means by which, according to his record, that end was secured. To 
aid Alexander Hamilton in his pet hobby, a bill for the assumption by the 
general government of the debts contracted by the various States during the 
Revolution, amounting to $20,000,000, he invited certain Congressmen to 
dine. The host does not record whether it was before or after the wine that 
the compromise was reached, but certain it is that at that feast votes for the 
assumption of the State debts were pledged by Representatives of the Southern 
States in exchange for votes from the Eastern, or creditor States, to establish 
the seat of government permanently upon the banks of the Potomac. 

The influence of the President also had been a powerful factor in favor 
of the Potomac ; and, though empowered with discretion to select any site 
within one hundred and five miles of the river's windings, beginning at 
Williamsport, seven miles above Hagerstown in Maryland, all must agree with 
Mr. Spofford, the Librarian, that " Washington, with that consummate judg- 
ment which distinguished his career, fixed upon just the one spot in the entire 
range of the territory prescribed by Congress which commanded the three- 
fold advantages of unfailing tide-water navigation, convenient access from 
Baltimore and the other large cities northward, and superb natural sites, alike 
for public buildings and for the varied wants of a populous city," 

Almost immediately, the President appointed Thomas Johnson and Daniel 
Carroll of Maryland and David Stuart of Virginia as Commissioners ; and, 
no doubt, gave specific directions for surveying and laying off the tract of 
land for the seat of government, as he was more familiar with the region than 



4 The National Capitol 

most of his contemporaries. The first survey above tide-water on the Poto- 
mac had been made by himself, with a party of friends, in a ** piroque," or 
canoe, described by G. W. P. Custis as " hollowed out of a gTeat poplar tree, 
hauled on a wagon to the bank of the Monocacy, and there launched. ' ' 

Wise, however, as he was in the choice of the site, it is noticeable that 
Washington selected it as near as possible, under the act, to his own home at 
Mount Vernon; and in the amendment of March 3, 1791, his hand can be 
plainly seen. This, while it still limited the erection of 'he public build- 
ings to the Maryland side of the Potomac, allowed a portion of the district 
to be located below the Eastern Branch and above the mouth of Hunting 
Creek, so as to include a convenient part of the Branch and the town of 
Alexandria. 

The great man watched with anxiety over the founding of the Federal 
City, which was to bear his name, and with eagerness hastens d the erection of 
its government buildings, as if with them to anchor public interest to the 
spot on which his hopes raised a city whose destiny was to be kindred to the 
growth and grandeur of a nation of the people. Himself a Federalist, he 
doubtless foresaw as well, in this one Capitol, an ultimate recognition of 
Federal supremacy, and, in a perfect imion, respectful alike to State and 
nation, a government strong enough to protect itself and its every citizen. 

Perhaps no greater obstacle opposed the path of President Washington than 
the old Scotch proprietor, David Burns, who owned a tract of six hundred 
and fifty acres in the heart of the proposed cit}-. He refused to part with 
his plantation, which was known as the " Widow's Mite." upon any terms. 
To Washington's most patriotic appeals he is said to have irritably replied : 
'' If it had not been for the Widow Custis and her niggers, you would never 
have been anvthing but a land surveyor, and a very poor surveyor at that." 
He was compelled, in the end, however, to yield to the public interest. On 
March 30, 1791, nineteen of the principal proprietors signed the agreement, 
which was accepted by the Commissioners on the 12th of the next month : 

" To convey in trust * to the President of the United States, or Commissioners, or to 
such person or persons as he shall appoint, by good and sufficient deeds in fee simple, the 
whole of our respective lands which he may think proper to include within the lines of 
the federal citv, for the purposes and on the conditions following- : The President shall have 
the sole power of directing the federal city to he laid off in what manner he pleases. He may 
retain anv number of public squares he may think proper for public improvements or other 
public uses ; and lots only which shall be laid off shall be a joint property between the 
trustees on behalf of the public and each present proprietor, and the same shall be fairly 
and equally defined bet^veen the public and the individuals. As soon as may be the site 

* The several trustees named in the deeds, dated on or about June, 1791, were 
" Thomas Beall, of George, and John M. Gantt, and the survivor of them, and the heirs 
of such survivor." 




WASHINGTON 
By Rembrandt Peak 



The National Capitol 7 

shall be laid off. For the streets the proprietors shall receive no compensation, but for the 
squares or lands in any form which shall be taken for pubhc buildings or any kind of 
public improvements or uses the proprietors whose lands shall be taken shall receive at the 
rate of ^£2^ per acre to be paid by the public." 

Peter Charles Li'Eiifant, a civil engineer who came to this country 
about 1777, was employed by President Washington's direction to prepare 
plans for the proposed city. He had become a major in the Engineer Corps 
during the war for Independence, and later had followed the seat of govern- 
ment successively from New York to Philadelphia, and thence to Washing- 
ton. L'Enfant carefully " viewed the ground on horse-back " with the Presi- 
dent and Commissioners, and in a report handed personally to Washington in 
Georgetown on the 26th of March, 1791, enthusiastically indorsed, in some- 
what Franco-English, the location as a site for the capital of a '* mighty 
empire " : 

" After coming upon the hill from the Eastern Branch ferry the country is level and on 
a space of above two miles each way present a most eligible position for the first settlement 
of a great city and one which if not the only within the limits of the Federal Territory is at 
least the more advantageous in that part laying between the eastern branch and Georgetown. 

"... On that part terminating in a ridge to Jenkin's Hill and running in a parallel 
with and at half mile off from the river Potowmack separated by a low ground intersected 
with three grand streams, — many of the most desirable position offer for to errect the pub- 
liques edifices thereon — from these height every grand building would rear with a majestick 
aspect over the country all round and might be advatageously seen from twenty miles off 
which contigous to the first settlement of the city they would there stand to ages in a central 
point to it, facing on the grandest prospect of both of the branch of the Potowmack with the 
town of Alexandry in front seen in its fullest extant over many points of land projecting 
from the Mariland and Virginia shore in a maner as add much to the prospective at the 
end of which the cape of great hunting creek appear directly were a corner stone of the 
Federal district is to be placed and in the room of which a mejstick colum or a grand 
Pyramid being erected would produce the happyest effect and completely finished the land- 
skape. . . . 

" Then the attractive local will lay all Round and at distance not beyond those limits 
within the which a city the capital of an extensive empire may be delineated." 

The corner-stone of the Federal District, spoken of by L'Enfant, was laid 
by the Commissioners with appropriate ceremonies on the 15th day of April 
at Hunter's Point, just south of Alexandria. In the following month, Trum- 
bull, the artist, visited Georgetown, where he found the Frenchman busy with 
his plans ; and together they rode over the ground on which the city has since 
been built. " Where the Capitol now stands was then a thick wood." Jef- I 
ferson had furnished L'Enfant with maps of many foreign cities, which he ' 
had collected in travel. The engineer's mind, however, dwelt more fondly 
on the work of Le Notre in dearly beloved France, and drawing his principal 



S The National Capitol 

inspiration from Versailles, a city remarkable for the regularity and beauty 
of its construction, for its three grand avenues of Paris, St. Cloud and Sceaux, 
diverging from the Place du Chateau, and for its magnificent palace and 
gardens designed by Louis XIV. for himself and his court, he furnished plans 
for the broad avenues, \istas, streets and parkings which to-day make ^^'ash- 
ington the admiration of visitors, and, in truth, "The City of iSIagnificent 
Distances." 

The site selected for the Capitol, which is called " Congress house" by 
the French sur\-eyor in his original map, was upon the Cern Abby Manor, 
owned by Daniel Carroll. This map gives the latitude of Congress House as 
38'' 53' N., and the longitude as o'' o'.* In his observations, placed upon his 
manuscript map by I,' Enfant himself, is the following paragraph : " In order 
to execute the above plan, Mr. Ellicott drew a true meridional line by celes- 
tial observations which passes through the area intended for the Congress house _; 
this line he crossed by another due East and West, which passes through the 
same area. These lines were accurately measured, and made the basis on 
which the whole plan was executed. He ran all the lines by a Transit Instm- 
ment, and determined the acute angles by actual measurement, and left 
nothing to the uncertainty of the compass." 

In placing the Capitol, where it now stands, on the brow of a hill which 
rises eighty-eight feet above the river, its projectors doubtless contemplated as 
the principal site for the future city the plateau to the eastward — presenting, 
as it did, beautiful and ample building sites, and commanding a far more 
extensive view than the Capitoline Hill in Rome, with which it is scarcely 
comparable otherwise than in name. It is recorded, however, that, e\en in 
the early days of the District of Columbia, speculators in real estate were 
potent, and this seems to be verified by a letter from Washington, written to 
the Commissioners from Philadelphia on November 17, 1792 : " I agree with 
you in opinion that ground in such eligible places as about the Capitol and 
the President's house, should not be sold in squares, unless there are some 
great and apparent advantages to be derived from specified buildings — imme- 
diate improvements, or something which will have a tendency to promote the 
advancement of the city. The circumstances imder which ISIr. Blodget bid 
off the square near the Capitol, were such as occur at almost ever}- public 
sale, — and, in that instance his having done so appeared very proper for the 
interest of the public. I agree however with you that it wou'd be best for 
the circumstance, not to be generally known." The value of land in the 
vicinity of the Capitol was so enhanced that improvements were forced, for 
the mo'^t part, in the opposite direction, of the north and northwest : and 

* The latitude of the Capitol is 38^ 53' C0.4" north ; the longitude 77'' 00' 35.7 west 
from Greenwich. 



The National Capitol 9 

thus it happens that the Capitol presents the curious spectacle of having its 
rear fa9ade, rather than its imposing front, toward the wealthier and more 
extended portion of the city. 

It was L'Enfant's expressed intention to render impossible in Washington 
such barricading of streets as had proved destructive to Paris during her revo- 
lutionary uprisings. From the Capitol, principal avenues radiate like the 
spokes of a wheel, commanding all approaches as to a fortress. Here center 
also North, South, East and West Capitol Streets, the last of which, however, 
is merged and lost in the public grounds, known as the " Mall," which extend 
in that direction to the river. In a letter of September 9, 1791, to L'Enfant, 
the Commissioners say that they have " agreed the streets- 'be named alphabeti- 
cally one way and numerically the other, the former divided iiito north and 
south letters, the latter into east and west numbers from the Capitol." They 
decide further "that the federal District shall be called the ' Territory of 
Columbia,' and the Federal City ' The City of Washington.' " 

History to-day gives to L'Enfant full credit for the genius of arrangement 
displayed in his original plan of the Federal City. Unfortunately, however, 
the qualities of his temperament made it impossible for the authorities long 
to brook his erratic ways, or to allow him personally to carry out his grand 
conception. His first material disagreement with the Commissioners arose 
from the lawless way in which he demolished a house that Mr. Carroll of 
Duddington was then constructing on the site of one of his proposed streets. 
The arbitrary procedure of the engineer, who evidently looked upon himself 
as possessed of military power and accountable to no one where his theories 
of art were concerned, is well revealed by a letter of December 8, 1791, 
from the Commissioners to Mr. Jefferson, wherein they complain that, as the 
house was " nearly demolished before the Chancellor's injunction arrived, Mr. 
Carroll did not think it worth while to have it served, trusting perhaps that 
our directions expressly forbidding thei'- further proceedings in it would have 
been attended to. We are sorry to mention that the Major, who was absent at 
the time we issued them, paid no attention to them but completely demol- 
ished it on his return." The President also became out of patience with 
this defiance of the procedure of la\^ : " I did not expect to meet with such 
perverseness in Major L'Enfant, as his late conduct exhibited." 

The more immediate rupture, however, which led to the loss of his posi- 
tion by the engineer, v/as the persistent way in which he refused to surrender 
his plans for public inspection in order that sales of city lots might be con- 
ducted in accordance with them. His grounds, no doubt sincere, but imprac- 
ticable where money had so to be secured to the Commissioners for the erec- 
tion of federal buildings and the- maintenance of the local government, were 
that purchasers '' would immediately leap upon the best land in his vistas and 
q,rchitectural squares, and raise huddles of shanties which would permanently 



lo The National Capitol 

embarrass the city." On the 14th of March, 1792, the Commissioners write 
to L' Enfant from Georgetown: "We have been notified that we are no 
longer to consider you as engaged in the business of the federal City." In 
the same letter, they tender him five hundred guineas and a city lot for his past 
services, whenever he shall desire to apply for the same ; but to this his pride 
would not stoop. He was afterwards employed for a short time at Fort Mifilin, 
in 1794, and in 181 2 declined an appointment as Professor of Engineering 
at West Point. He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and the 
designer of its badge. 

" He was a favorite with Washington," writes Ben: Perley Poore, "but 
Jefferson disliked him on account of his connection with the Society of the 
Cincinnati, and availed himself of his difficulty with the Commissioners to 
dis-charge him. The Major then became an unsuccessful * petitioner before 
Congress for a redress of his real and fancied wrongs, and he was to be seen 
almost every day slowly pacing the Rotunda of the Capitol. He was a tall, 
thin man, w4io w^ore, towards the close of his life, a blue military coat, but- 
toned quite to the throat, with a tall, black stock, but no visible signs of linen. 
His hair was plastered with pomatum close to his head, and he wore a napless 
high beaver bell-crowned hat. Under his arm he generally carried a roll of 
papers relating to his claim upon the government, and in his right hand he 
swung a formidable hickory cane with a large silver head." 

A life of great qualities was thus passed, for the most part, in retirement 
from active endeavor, because of an inability to take the American world as 
he found it and to deal wdth men as men. The proud French spirit passed 
away June 14, 1S25. He was then residing on the Chellum Castle estate, in 
the vicinity of Bladensburg, where Dudley Diggs had given him a home, and 
where, beneath a little mound of myrtle in the garden, with no monument or 
inscription save an ancient cedar to mark the spot, he found a grave. The 
story goes that, at his death, the plan of the city of Washington wms found 
upon his breast. Some day this man, who had not even ground he could claim 
for burial, will be honored with a statue in the city which owes so much to 
his genius. 

"The enemies of the enterprise," writes Washington at the time of the 
Frenchman's dismissal, with apprehension for the city's welfare, " will take 
advantage of the retirement of L' Enfant to tnimpet the whole affair as an 
abortion." The President's fears were not well founded, however; for, in 
Andrew Ellicott, the young surveyor from Pennsylvania who as L'Enfant's 
assistant had done the most of the work in the field, was found an able suc- 



* We find that by act of May i, 1810, P. C. L'Enfant received Sio94-20 (which was 
the sum of $66623 with legal interest from March i, 1792) as a compensation for his services 
in laying out the city of Washington. 



The National Capitol " 

cesser, though his relations with the Commissioners, like L'Enfant's, were 

anything but harmonious. 

Ellicott was directed to " prepare a new plan for publication, using mate- 
rial gathered and information acquired while acting surveyor." The original 
plan by L' Enfant had been sent to the House by Washington on December 
13, 1791, but afterwards withdrawn. Ellicott's plan, purporting to be the 
result of actual survey, contained many alterations, though its difference 
from the plan of the French engineer was not of such a character as to take 
from L'Enfant the credit of the design. It was finished in 1792, and engraved 
by Washington's order, in October of that year. It is said that L'Enfant, 
who was then in that city, when he saw that the scroll upon the " Philadel- 
phia " map did not bear his name as its author, and that by his own hand, as 
shown in a former paragraph, Ellicott's name appeared upon it, left the 
engraver's office in disgust and would have nothing more to do with the 
matter. This was for a long time the only engraved map, and was followed 
by the Commissioners in all operations of the city, so far as practicable; 
" but the city not having been surveyed, and this plan being partly made from 
the drafts of L'Enfant, and partly from materials possessed by Ellicott," as 
they tell us, many spaces of ground were found to be neither in a street nor 
public square, and were added to the plan and divided into building lots, 
while ''the actual survey had another apparent effect; it occasioned many 
squares to be laid in the water, being governed by the channel, and to insert 
other squares between the apparent water-squares and the river." These 
alterations were incorporated into a plan in the Commissioners' office, which, 
however, was neither engraved nor published. The consequence was that 
many disputes arose among the Commissioners, the original proprietors and 
the purchasers, — the first claiming their own plan to be correct, others 
L'Enfant's plan, and still others the engraved plan, which had been widely 
circulated throughout the United States and in Europe to entice investment. 
The differences led the trustees to refuse to convey the public grounds, though 
ordered by President Adams; and, finally, on April 8, 1802, a committee of 
the House recommended the printing of the Commissioners' map and the 
giving of lieu lands where warranted. 

President Washington, in a letter to the Commissioners, dated February 
20, 1797, throws some light on the history of these early maps. " That many 
alterations have been made from L'Enfant's plan by Major Ellicott, with the 
approbation of the Executive, is not denied; that some were deemed essential, 
is avowed; and, had it not been for the materials which he happened to 
possess, it is probable that no engraving from Mr. L'Enfant's draught ever 
would have been exhibited to the public; for, after the disagreement took 
place between him and the Commissioners his obstinacy threw every difficulty 
in the way of its accomplishment. To this summary may be added; that 



12 The National Capitol 

Mr. Davidson* is mistaken if he supposes that the transmission of Mr. 
L'Enfant's plan of the city to Congress was the completion thereof; so far 
from it, it will appear, by the message which accompanied the same, that it 
was given as matter of information only, to show what state the business was 
in, and the return of it requested; that neither House of Congress passed 
any act consequent thereupon; that it remained, as before, under the control 
of the Executive ; that, afterwards several errors were discovered and corrected, 
many alterations made, and the appropriations, except as to the Capitol and 
President's house, struck out under that authority before it was sent to the 
engraver, intending that work, and the promulgation thereof, were to give the 
final and regulating stamp." 

Ellicott's supervision, too, of the mapping and laying out of the city was 
brief. On the 23d of December, 1793, the Commissioners write complainingly 
to the President : " Major Ellicott after his absence great part of the summer 
and all the fall, as we hear in other service, returned to us in the winter, we 
do not accept his farther service. The business we believe was going on full 
as well without him " ; and, again, on January 28, 1794 : " We discharged him 
at our last meeting." Yet Ellicott must have been a man of talent; for in 
after years he achieved some distinction in the world of science, holding the 
professorship of Mathematics at West Point from 181 2 until the time of his 
death, and this in spite of the fact that he and the Commissioners could not 
agree. 

In contemplating the growth of the Federal City, it is amusing and instruc- 
tive to read a letter of the Commissioners as late as the 19th of April, 1794, 
to Captain Ign^ Fe'^wick, revealing, as it does, some of the difficulties in 
the way of building a city in the woods : " We were surprised yesterday to see 
the preparation for planting corn in Carrollsburgh. We cannot by silence give 
room to collect that, we give any consent and countenance to it. . . . 
We do not imagine that the oats will be productive of so great inconvenience 
and as to those sowed we shall say nothing of them but we flatter ourselves that 
on reflection you will desist from planting Carrollsburgh in corn for it is cer- 
tainly improper and injurious to the interest of the public and individuals." 

On July 9, 1846, Congress passed an " act to retrocede the County of 
Alexandria in the District of Columbia to the State of Virginia," the Legis- 
lature of that State having previously passed an act for its acceptance. Thus 
that portion of the land on the Virginia shore of the Potomac became again 
the property of that State ; that which remains in the District of Columbia 
to-day belonged originally only to the domain of Marjdand. 

Such is the story, briefly told, of the laying out of the Federal District, 

* The Commissioners state : "Mr. Davidson's object is to obtain additional property 
within the President's scjuare," 



The National Capitol 



13 



which until 1846 was ten miles square, and of the planting of the beautiful 
Federal City of which to-day the whole nation is proud, and which, by its 
artistic advancement, is rapidly commanding the admiration of the world. 
By the building of the capital of the States upon its banks, the Potowmak has 
fulfilled the Indian prophecy in its name : " The river of the meeting of the 
tribes." 




EARLY PLANS AND ARCHITECTS 

The site for the legislative halls having been selected to the satisfaction 
of the President, the question of plans suitable to a building for the occupa- 
tion of Congress took up the attention of the public authorities. In a letter 
of March 8, 1792, to David Stuart, one of the Commissioners, Washington 
writes : 

" The doubts and opinions of others with respect to the permanent seat have occa- 
sioned no change in my sentiments on the subject. They have always been, that the plan 
ought to be prosecuted with all the dispatch the nature of the case will admit, and that the 
public buildings in size, form and elegance, should look beyond the present day. I would 
not have it understood from hence that I lean to extravagance. A chaste plan sufficiently 
capacious and convenient for a period not Av jemote, but one to which we may reasonably 
look forward, would meet my idea in the Capitol." 

The following interesting advertisement, which appeared in the principal 
newspapers of the country during the same month, shows that the Commis- 
sioners had more land than money with which to reward intellectual excel- 
lence. 

"WASHINGTON IN THE TERRITORY OF COLUMBIA" 

" A premium of a lot in this city to be designated by impartial judges, and live 
hundred dollars, or a medal of that value at the option of the party, will be given by the 
Commissioners of the Federal Buildings to the person who before the 15th of July, 1792, 
shall produce to them the most approved plan for a Capitol to be erected in this city ; and 
two hundred and fifty dollars, or a medal, to the plan deemed next in merit to the one they 
shall adopt. The building to be of brick, and to contain the following apartments to wit : 
a conference-room and a room for the Representatives, sufficient to accommodate three 
hundred persons each ; a lobby or ante-room to the latter ; a Senate room of twelve hundred 
square feet area ; an ante-chamber ; twelve rooms of six hundred square feet each for 
Committee rooms and clerks' offices. It will be a recommendation of any plan if the 
central part of it may be detached and erected for the present with the appearance of a 
complete whole, and be capable of admitting the additional parts in future, if they shall 
be wanted. Drawings will be expected of the ground plots, elevations of each front, and 
sections through the building in such directions as may be necessary to explain the internal 
structure ; and an estimate of the cubic feet of brick work composing the whole mass ot 
the walls." 

Of the sixteen plans which, in answer to this advertisement, are said to 
have been submitted by architects, draftsmen and others* throughout the 

* See Washington's letter, Appendix, p. 249. 



The National Capitol i5 

country, many persons, inchuling Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, 
favored those of Stcpl"'" Hallot, a French architect, who had established 
himself in Philadelphia just prior to the Revolution. Hallet visited the city 
of Washington by invitation in the summer of 1792, in order to examine the 
site chosen for the Capitol and better to perfect his designs. These would 
undoubtedly have been accepted, had not AVilliaiu Tliornton,* an English 
physician by education, but an amateur draftsman by taste, and the designer 
of the Philadelphia Library, then brought to the President's attention through 
Trumbull, the artist, a different conception of a building designed for the 
meetings of Congress. Washington,! at the sight of Thornton's drawings, 
became enthusiastic over " the grandeur, simplicity, and beauty of the exterior ; 
the propriety with which the apartments are distributed, and economy in the 
whole mass of the structure." 

As Hallet, however, had been encouraged regarding his designs and had 
made alterations in them to meet the approbation of the President and others, 
some courtesy was due to him. For the sake of conciliation, the President, 
with considerations of justice towards both, shrewdly suggested that Thorn- 
ton's plans be adopted, but that, as he was not a professional architect, 
Hallet be engaged, in order that, under the direction of a trained architect, 
they might the better be executed. The Commissioners, too, evidently felt 
kindly toward Hallet at this period ; for in a communication to Jefferson of 
February 7, 1793, they say: " We feel sensibly for poor Hallet, and shall do 
everything in our pov/er to soothe him. We hope he may be usefully em- 
ployed notwithstanding." On the 13th of the following month, in a letter 
to Hallet himself, they thus endeavored to compensate him for his dis- 
appointment : 

" The plan you first offered for a Capitol appeared to us to have a great share of merit, 
none met with our entire approbation. Yours approaching the nearest to the leading 
ideas of the President and Commissioners. . . . Our opinion has preferred Doctor 
Thornton's and we expect the President will confirm our choice. Neither the Doctor or 
yourself can command the prize under the strict terms of our advertisement, but the public 
has been benefitted by the emulation excited and the end having been answered we shall 
give the reward of 500 dollars and a lot to Dr. Thornton. You certainly rank next and 
because your application has been exited by particular request, we have resolved to place 
you on the same footing as near as may be, that is to allow compensation for everything 
to this time, 100 £ being the value of a Lot and 500 Dollars." 

The Commissioners notified Thornton of his triumph by letter of April 
5j i793> written from Georgetown: "The President has given formal appro- 
bation of your plans." Four days later they write to the Executive : " Doc- 
tor Thornton throws out an idea that the Capitol might be thrown back to the 

* See letter to Thornton, Appendix, p. 250. 
f See letters. Appendix, pp. 250, 251. 



i6 The National Capitol 

desirable spot anil the center ornamented with a figure of Columbus. The 
idea seems not to be disapproved by Mr. Blodget, and Ellicott thinks there's 
room enough. It does not seem to us that there's any striking impropriety 
and wish that you could consider it on the spot where you could have the 
most perfect idea of it." 

Hallet at once raisetl objections to the practical application of Thornton's 
plans; and in the following July, the President held a conference in Phila- 
delphia, at which were present the author of the contested design, Hallet, 
Hoban and a " judicious undertaker [builder] chosen by Doctor Thornton as 
a competent judge of the objections made to his plan of a Capitol for the 
City of Washington." At this meeting, the plans were carefully e.xamined, 
and the objections fully discussed. Certain changes were suggested by Hal- 
let, wherein, says Washington. '' he has preserved the most valuable ideas of 
the original, and rendered them susceptible of execution ; so that it is consid- 
ered as Dr. Thornton's plan, rendered into practical form." The President 
further informs us that " Col. Williams, an undertaker also produced bv Doc- 
tor Thornton," after viewing the plans and objections, thought, on the whole, 
the reformed plan the best. Later, on the ::5th, the Executive writes to the 
Commissioners as follows : 

" . . . After .1 candid discussion, it w.ns found th.it the objections stated, were con- 
sidered as valid by both the persons chosen by Doctor Thornton as practical Architects and 
competent judges of things of this kind. . . . The ph\n produced by Mr. Hallet 
altho' preserving- the original plan of l^octor rhornton, and such as might, upon the 
whole, be considered as his plan, was free from those objections, and was pronounced by 
the gentleman on the part of Doctor Thornton, as the one which they, as practical Archi- 
tects would chuse to execute. Besides which, you will see, that, in the opinion of those 
gentlemen, the plan executed according to Mr. Hallet's ideas would not cost more than 
one half of what it would if executed according to Doctor Thornton's. 

" After these opinions, there could remain no hesitation how to decide ; and Mr. 
Hoban was accordingly informed that the foundation would be begun upon the plan 
exhibited by Mr. Hallet, leaving the recess in the east front open for furtiier con- 
sideration. 

" It seems to be the wish that the portico of the east front, which was in Doctor 
Thornton's original plan, should be preserved in this of Mr. Hallet's. The recess which 
Mr. Hallet proposes in that front, strikes every one who has viewed the plan, unpleasantly, 
as the space between the two wings or proiections, is too contracted to give it the noble 
appearance of the buildings of which it is an imitation ; and it has been intimated that the 
reason of his proposing the recess instead of a portico, is to rtiake it in one essential feature 
ditTercnt from Doctor Thornton's plan. Hut whether the portico or the recess should be 
finally concluded upon will make no difference in the commencement of the foundations 
of the building-, except in that particular part — and Mr. Hallet is directed to make such 
sketches of the Portico, before the work will be affected by it, as will show the advant.ige 
or disadvantage thereof. The ostensible objection of Mr. Hallet to the adoption of Doctor 
Thornton's east front is principally the depreciation of light and air, in a degree, to the 
apartments designed for the Senate and Representatives." 



The National Capitol 17 

Thornton's original plans have been lost; but from the data at hand, it 
would seem that he conceived in the central building a grand vestibule, with 
a portico on the east, and another large circular room on the western front. 
The latter chamber, for conference, was to be lighted by small elevated 
windows anil have for its western entrance a single door-way, opening upon 
a semi-circular portico, whence a broad expanse of steps ran to the ground. 

Hallet proposed a square center in place of the vestibule, having an open 
court on the ground floor containing a turn for carriages. The only dome 
rose above a circular conference room on the west. The external appearance 
of the walls, too, was much altered ; and the columns on both the east and 
the west were extended to the full height of the structure. The pleasing 
effect of the present basement-exterior with the graceful pilasters above was 
entirely destroyed. 

In a report to Congress in 1804, Latrobe, then architect of the Capitol, 
criticises the work of Thornton on the ground that he furnished simply 
a picture and not a plan. In a letter to Congress * answering this report, 
Thornton himself furnishes an insight into the relation between his own plans 
and those of Hallet : " Mr. Hallet changed and diminished the Senate room, 
which is now too small. He laid square the foundation at the centre build- 
ing, excluding the dome ; and when General Washington saw the extent of the 
alterations proposed, he expressed his disapprobation in a style of such 
warmth as his dignity and self command seldom permitted. . . . Mr. 
Hallet was desirous not merely of altering what might be approved, but even 
what was most approved. He made some judicious alterations, but in other 
instances he did injury." 

It was quite impossible for amicable relations long to continue between 
Thornton and Hallet f under these circumstances. Hallet was, no doubt, a 
skillful architect; and his ideas for reducing the cost of the building one-half 
by judicious changes, mainly in size, had met the encouragement of all, and 
had led to certain modifications in the designs looking toward the accom- 
plishment of that end. But he was not content. His spirit throughout shows 
that he was jealous of Thornton's success and constantly attempted to supplant 
the latter's work by alterations of his plans and by changes in the execution. 

On September 12, 1794, the President appointed Thornton one of the 
Commissioners in charge of the District and Federal buildings, and this was 
doubtless that he might personally see his plans carried out. " When General 
Washington," he says, " honored me with the appointment of commissioner 
he requested that I should restore the building to a correspondence with the 
original plan." In this capacity Thornton had a supervisory control of the 
Capitol until 1802. when the office was abolished. In June, prior to his 

* See Appendix, p. 252 f See Commissioners' letter, Appendix, p. 251. 

2 



i8 , The National Capitol 

appointment, Hallet was finally discharged, after holding his office two years. 
Irumbull was then in London, and upon the receipt of a letter from the 
Commissioners, followed by a consultation with West, the artist, and Wyatt, 
the principal architect in London, contracted with Georg-e Hadlield, 
a fellow-student at the Royal Academy and the winner of all its academic 
prizes, to proceed immediately to America and superintend the work at 
the Capitol. Hadfield was appointed October 15, 1795. On March nth of 
the next year, Mr. Jeremiah Smith, in a communication to the House of Rep- 
resentatives, reported: "The foundation of the Capitol is laid; the foun- 
dation wall under ground and above is of different thicknesses, and is com- 
puted to average fourteen feet high and nine feet thick. The freestone work 
is commenced on the north wing; it is of different heights, but may average 
three feet and a half ; the interior walls are carried up the same height." 

Hadfield, like Hallet, was not content with the supervision of the work 
for which he had been employed, and soon attempted to engraft his own 
plans into the construction. The President, however, had already had too 
much difficulty with the quibbles of architects to listen placidly * to the new 
designs. When Hadfield found he could not control the matter, he gave 
notice to the Commissioners that, at the expiration of his contract, which 
would be in three months, he would quit the public employment. But, to 
his astonishment, finding a ready acquiescence on the part of the authorities, 
and being offered his passage money to England at once, " he seems to have 
considered the subject better," write the Commissioners, ''and 
applied to withdraw his notice, promising every attention to carrying on the 
Capitol as approved of by the President." The Commissioners permitted 
him to continue upon the work until the expiration of his contract. 

Hadfield was, no doubt, a man of some theoretical attainments, as the 
Commissioners Avrite, IMarch 29, 1797, that he " has drawn the plan of all the 
public offices to be erected in the City of Washington, and which have met 
with the approbation of the President and the several Departments for which 
they are intended." His limitations are well summed up in their letter of the 
25th of June, 179S, to the Secretary of State : " We believe Mr. Hadfield to 
be a young man of taste but we have found him extremely deficient in prac- 
tical knowledge as an architect . . . under Mr. Hadfield's directions it 
never could have been completed in an eft'ectual manner. We therefore gave 
Mr. Hoban (who has heretofore superintended the President's house) the 
immediate superintendence of the Capitol." Tnmibull, however, is true to 
his protege : " His services were soon dispensed with, not because his knowl- 
edge was not eminent, but because his integrity compelled him to say, that 
parts of the original plan could not he executed. Poor Hatfield languished 

* See Washington's letter, Appendix, p. 251. 




DR. WILLIAM THORNTON 



V 



The National Capitol 21 

many years in obscurity at Washington, where however, towards the close of 
his life, he had the opportunity of erecting a noble monument to himself in 
the city hall, a beautiful building, in which is no waste of space or materials." 

James Hobaii, who had settled in Charleston, S. C, prior to the Revo- 
lution, was a native of Ireland. He came to Washington in July, 1792, and 
on the 1 8th was employed at a salary of three hundred guineas a year. He 
seems to have been a reliable and good man and to have enjoyed the respect 
and friendship of Thornton and others with whom he was associated. Hoban 
planned, built, and rebuilt the White House; and, indeed, Avas engaged upon 
the public buildings for more than twenty-five years, though his supervision of 
the construction at the Capitol, whenever the Commissioners found it necessary 
to utilize him there and possible to relieve him from other work, ended in 
1802. It fell to his lot to protect the public interest by carefully rebuilding 
the foundation walls of Congress House, which the contractors had fraudulently 
constructed by loosely dumping in place broken stone and mortar from wheel- 
barrows. This early piece of knavery gave rise to the expression, " The Con- 
tinental Trowel." 

Thus, strange to say, the designs of the original building, and the model 
in accordance with which the classic Capitol has grown to completion, were 
not conceived by a professional architect. Neither Hallet, Hadfield nor 
Hoban designed any portion of the present structure. Thornton, however, 
was no ordinary man. He was poet, artist, scholar, inventor. He was the 
Father of the Patent Office, having held the position of clerk in charge of the 
patents, at ^1,400 per year, under an appointment from Jefi^erson ; and was 
virtually its first commissioner, for later his office became known as Superin- 
tendent of Patents, and his salary raised to $2,000 a year. In 18 10 he moved 
the models, patents and records of the Patent Office into Blodgett's Hotel, 
where Congress afterwards met for a short period. 

An universal genius, Thornton was the friend of the early Presidents, and 
the companion of the best in the land. He had a love for fast horses, and 
owned several, which did not lessen his attractiveness in the estimation of 
many of the distinguished wits and beaux of his day. He drew plans for a 
number of the finest old places in Washington (among them the " haunted" 
Octagon or Tayloe house), many of which still stand as monuments to his 
genius. He was born on the island of Tortola, in the West Indies, was edu- 
cated in medicine in England and Paris, and traveled extensively in accom- 
plishing himself. He cam to America, and was married in Philadelphia in 
1790. Three years later he moved to Washington, where he lived highly 
respected until his death, March 28. 1828, 



ORIGINAL CORNER-STONE 

The iSth of September, 1793, should be ever memorable in American 
history. On that eventful day, George Washington, surrounded by those he 
loved, descended into the cavazion at the southeast corner of the proposed 
north or Senate wing, and iirmly set with Masonic rites the corner-stone of the 
National Capitol. The day was beautiful. The sight of the little group of 
patriots gathered about that spot, offering prayers for the prosperity of the 
people and for the kindred growth of the Capitol and the nation, and all 
filled with reverence and love for the tall, majestic, soldier-President, now 
silver-crowned by years, who had guided many of those present and the 
brothers and fathers of others, gone forever, through the dark days of the 
Revolution, must have been one of tender impressiveness then, as it is in 
reflective glimpses now. The Masonic apron worn by the President was the 
handiwork of Madame de 1-afayette, the wife of that beloved French general 
whose heroism had helped to make possible this peaceful and propitious scene. 

The following account of the ceremonies on this august occasion is taken 
from the columns of the Columbian Centinel, published in Boston, October 5, 
1793, and is, no doubt, a fairly accurate description, as it was written presum- 
ably by an eye-witness. 

By Thursday Night's Mails, 
maryland. 

Georgetown, Sept. 21. 

On Wednesday last one of the grandest Masonic processions took place, which, 
perhaps, ever was exhibited on the like important occasion. 

About ten o'clock. Lodge No. g, were visited by that congregation, so grateful to the 
craft, Lodge, No. 22, of Virginia, with all their officers and regalia, and directly afterwards 
appeared on the southeiui banks of. the grand river Potowmack, one of the finest companies 
of volunteer artillery that hath been lately seen, parading to receive the President of the 
United States, who shortly came in sight with his suite— to whom the artillery paid their 
military honors, and his Excellency and suite crossed the Potowmack, and was received in 
Maryland by the officers and brethren of No. 22, Virginia, and No. 9, Maryland ; whom 
the President headed, and preceded by a band of music, the rear brought up by the 
Alexandria volunteer artillery, with grand solemnity of march, proceeded to the President's 
square, in the city of Washington, where they were met and saluted by No. 15, of the city 
of Washington, in all their elegant regalia, headed by brother Joseph Clark, Rt. W.G. 
M.P.T. and conducted to a large Lodge prepared for the purpose of their reception. 
After a short space of time, by th^ vigilance of brother C. Worthy Stephenson, grand 



The National Capitol 23 

marshal, I'.T. Hu' hiollicihni.d .iiid dlluT bodies were; disposed in n second order of proces- 
sion, whicli Iciiik |)l.i. r aiiiiilsl ;i In illi.inl crowd of spectators of Ijoth sexes, according to liic 
InlliiwiiiK arnin^^cini'Mls, viz. : 

'riie Surveying- (lc|).ii lincnl nt liic city of \V;isliiiij,noii, 

Mayor and ( 'orpor.ilion of ( Icorj^clown, 

Virj^inia .-irtilkTy, 

Commissioners of tiic ('ily of Wasliin^lon, and llirir .iltciidanls, 

Stone cutters, 

Mcclianics, 

Two Sword I'icarcrs, 

Masons of tiic I'il'lli decree, 

Bibles, etc., on (irand Cusiiions, 

Deacons with Staffs of Office, 

Stew.anls wilh Wands, 

Masons of the 'Third De^j^ree, 

Wardens with 'rruncheons, 

vSecrelaries with Tools of Office, 

J 'ay- Masters with their Regalia, 

Treasurers with their Jewels, 

Hand of Music, 

Lodge No. 22, of Virginia, disposed in their own order, 

Corn, Wine, .and Oil, 

Crand Master, I'ro Tern., 

I'.rolher (ieorge Washington, W. M., 

No. 22, Virginia, 

(J rand sword-bearer. 

The procession marched two a-breast, in the greatest solemn dignity, with music play- 
ing, drums beating, colours Hying, and spectators rejoicing ; from the President's scjuarc to 
the capitol, in the city of Washington ; where the grand marshal ordered a halt, and directed 
each file in the procession to incline two steps, one to the right, and one to the left, and 
face each other, which formed an hollow oblong s(|iiare ; through which the grand sword 
bearer led the van ; followeil by the grand master I'. T. on the left— the President of the 
United States in the center, and the Worshipful master of No. 22, Virginia, on the right- 
all the other orders, that composed the procession advanced, in the reverse of their order of 
march from the President's .square, to the South Ea.st corner of the capitol : And the artillery 
fdcd off to a destined ground to display their mancieuvers and discharge their cannon : The 
President of the United States, the Crand Master, P. T. and Worshipful M. of No. 22, 
taking their stand to East of an huge stone ; :ind all the craft, forming a circle Westward, 
stood a short time in silent awful order ; 

The Artillery discharged a volley. 

The Crand Master delivered the Commissioners, a large silver \)\:iU- wilh rrn inscription 
thereon, which the Commissioners ordered to be read, and w;is as follows : — 

This southeast corner stone of the Capitol of the United States of America, in the city 
of Washington was laid on the i8th., day of September, 1793, in the eighteenth year of 
American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George 
Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicious 
and beneficial as his military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liber- 
ties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the President of the United States, in conc^rl 



24 



The National Capitol 




MASONIC rROCESSlON, SEPTEMBER 1 8, 1703 



with the Grand Lodge of iNIaryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, 
from Alexandria, \"a. ; Thomas F. Johnson, David Steuart, and Daniel Carrol, Commis- 
sioners ; Joseph Clark, Right Worshipful Grand Master, pro tempore ; James Hoban and 
Stephen ILdlette, architects ; Collin Williamson, master mason. 
The artillerv discharged a volley. 

The plate was then delivered to the President, who, attended by the grand master P.T. 
— and three most worshipful masters descended into the cavasson trench, and deposed the 
plate, and laid on it the cornerstone of the Capitol of the United States of America — on 
which was deposed corn, wine, and oil ; when tlie whole congregation joined in awful 
praver, which was succeeded by IMasonic chaunting honours and a volley from the artillery. 

The President of the United States and his attendant brethren ascended from the 
cavasson to the East of the corner stone, and there the grand master P.T. elevated on a triple 
rostrum, delivered an animated and ingenious Oration.* 

The whole company retired to an extensive booth, where an ox of 500 lbs. was bar- 
bacued, of which the company generally partook, with every abundance of other recreation. 
The festival concluded with fifteen successive vollies from the artillery, whose military dis- 
cipline and manceuvers, merit every commendation. 

* This oration, pronounced by Brother Joseph Clarke, Rt. Worshipful Grand-Master 
P. T., may be found in the Columbian Cenihul oi Wednesday, October 9, 1793. 



OLD CAPITOL 

In the month of October, 1800, a small " packet sloop," laden with all 
the records, archives and furniture which the infant Republic possessed, 
sailed from'philadelphia, where Congress then sat, up the Potomac to the new 

seat of government. , • , . 

Oliver Wolcott, in a letter to his wife of the 4th of July, writes that there 
was at that time, " one good Tavern about forty rods from the Capitol, and 
several other houses . . . building ; but I do not perceive how the mem- 
bers of Congress can possibly secure lodgings unless they will consent to live 
like Scholars in a college or Monks in a monastery, crowded ten or twenty 
in one liouse, and utterly secluded from Society. The only resource for such 
as wish to live Comfortably will be found in Georgetown, three miles distant, 
over as bad a Road in winter as the clay grounds near Hartford." Yet a 
belle of the times describes the former place as " a town of houses without 
streets, as Washington is a town of streets without houses." 

The Commissioners report that on May 15, 1800, by accurate report, 
there were 109 houses of brick and 263 of wood. On November 15, 180 1, 
to these had been added 84 of brick and 151 of wood, while 79 of brick and 
35 of wood were building. Between 1796 and January, 1801, the Commis- 
sioners sold lots southwest of Massachusetts Avenue at an average price of 
$343 ; and northeast, they and the proprietors sold them at an average price 
of ^105. Lots " binding on" navigable waters sold at an average price of 
^12.71 the " foot front." 

This primitive condition of the city in which Congress was to take up its 
permanent residence furnished abundant food for wits and raconteurs. John 
Cotton Smith, a Representative from Connecticut, said that, " Instead of 
recognizing the avenues and streets, portrayed on the plan of the city, not 
one was visible, unless we accept a road, with two buildings on each side of 
it, called New Jersey Avenue. Pennsylvania Avenue, leading, as laid down 
on paper, from the Capitol to the Piesidential Mansion, was, nearly the whole 
distance, a deep morass covered with alder bushes, which were cut through the 
width of the intended avenue during the ensuing winter." He described the 
city generally as " covered with scrub oak bushes on the higher grounds, and 
on the marshy soil either with trees or some sort of shrubbery." 

Mrs. John Adams, writing to her daughter, says : " Woods are all you see 
from Baltimore until you reach the City, which is only so in name— here and 



26 The National Capitol 

there a small cot without a window appearing in the Forest, through which 
you travel miles without seeing a human being." Only a month later, Gouver- 
neur Morris writes : " We want nothing here but houses, cellars, kitchens, 
well-informed men, amiable women and other trifles of this kind to make our 
city perfect. ... In short, it is the very best city in the world for a 
future residence." 

CongTCSS met for the first time in the City of Washington on November 
17, 1800. Not, however, until the 21st was President Adams notified that 
the Senate at last had a quorum ; and on the next day at twelve o'clock, 
according to his own arrangement, he came into the Senate Chamber, where 
the Representatives had already taken the seats assigned them for the cere- 
mony, and addressed Congress, congratulating them " on the prospect of a 
residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to apprehend that 
accommodations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet there is 
great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the present 
session." ^ 

Both branches were then sitting in the old north wing, as that was all that 
was then completed, and truly their conveniences do not seem to have been 
of the best ; for, four days after convening, Thomas Claxton was directed 
to erect a shelter over the fire-wood required by the two Houses so as to pro- 
tect it from the weather. For the furnishing of the apartments themselves, 
the offices and the committee rooms, as well as for the expenses of the 
removal of the books, records and papers of Congress from Philadelphia, 
only $9,000 had been appropriated, to be expended under the supervision of 
the Secretaries of the four Executive Departments. These Secretaries at the 
same time were to see that the Commissioners prepared footways in suitable 
places and directions for the " greater facility of communication between the 
various Departments and offices of the Government." 

On February 11, 1801, the Speaker, attended by the House, proceeded to 
the Senate Chamber to witness the opening and counting of the electoral 
votes for President and Vice-President. It was found that Thomas Jeffer- 
son and Aaron Burr each had received 73 votes, John Adams 65, Charles 
Cotesworth Pinckney 64, and John Jay i. The President of the Senate, 
therefore, announced that, according to the Constitution, it lay with the 
House to choose between Jefferson and Burr for President. The House then 
returned to their own chamber where, with closed doors, they proceeded to 
ballot by States. During the day Mr. Nicholson, who had been very ill, 
appeared and had a seat assigned him in an ante-room of the chamber in which 
the House assembled, whither the tellers of Maryland carried the ballot-box 
to enable him to vote. This was important, as his vote for Jefferson divided 
the State. The first ballot showed 8 States for Jefferson, 6 for Burr, and 2 
divided. The thirty-sixth ballot, on the 17th, was final : 10 States for 



The National Capitol 



21 




Jefferson, 4 for Burr — Delaware and South Carolina voting by blank ballots. 
The National Intelligences- of the i6th says : " All the accounts received 
from individuals at a distance, as well as the feelings of citizens on the spot, 
concur in establishing the conviction that the present is among the most 
solemn eras which have existed in the annals of our country. That confi- 
dence, which has hitherto reposed in tranquil security, on the wisdom and 
patriotism of Congress, stands appalled at dangers which threaten the peace 
of society, and the existence of the Constitution. . . . The unanimous 
and firm decision of 
the people through- 
out the United States 
in favor of Mr. Jef- 
ferson will be irre- 
sistib^^e." 

The correspond- 
ing south wing * was 
not so far completed 
as to be occupied by 
the House of Repre- 
sentatives until the 
beginning of the ex- 
tra session on Octo- 
ber 26, 1807. At the 
close of the first ses- 
sion in Washington, 
however, the House 

left its chamber on the west side of the north wing, where soon after the 
Library was placed, and on December 7, 1801, took up its quarters in " the 
oven," a temporary low brick structure of elliptical shape on the site f of 
the proposed south wing. 

In 1803, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, an accomplished English archi- 
tect, who had settled in Richmond soon after coming to America, was ap- 
pointed by Jefferson to take charge of the work as surveyor at the Capitol, 
with full authority to construct the south wing, and to remodel the north 
wing if he should think advisable. Latrobe was a man of some artistic taste, 
as is seen from a study of his work and a perusal of the many reports he sent 
to Congress respecting its progress. He is said to have been presented to 
President Washington at Mount Vernon shortly after his arrival in the United 
States, in 1796, by Judge Bushrod Washington, and to have made a most fav- 
orable impression upon the Executive. Following Latrobe's appointment, 



THE CAPITOL, 1807 



For plans, see Appendix, p. 255. 



f See Jefferson's letter. Appendix, p. 249. 



28 The National Capitol 

the foundations of the external walls of the south wing, he says, " were coi 
demned and pulled down. The center building occupied by the House ( 
Representatives remained standing, — because in the opinion of many a furthe 
appropriation appeared at least doubtful." Very little other work was don 
on account of the narrow space around the building, and all the workmen wei 
discharged in December. After the House adjourned, on March 27, 180/ 
however, the temporary building was torn down and removed, and the sout 
constructure commenced in earnest. 

The Quasimodo of the Capitol, no doubt, chuckled gleefully at th 
steadfastness of the majority of the Members but three days before th 
adjournment. Despite the advocacy of John Randolph and the strengt 
given to the measure by his " yea" — to say nothing of the personal discon 
fort of the Representatives — they then defeated by a vote of 76 to 27 
Senate amendment providing for " finishing the President's House in sue 
manner as will accommodate both Houses of Congress ; and for the purpos 
of renting, purchasing, or building a suitable house for the accommodation c 
the President." 

The destruction of the "oven" necessitated another removal of th 
House, in the fall of 1804. They evidently again took up their old quartei 
in the north wing, as in the next year $700 were appropriated " for defrayin 
the expenses incidental to the dismantling the late Library room of Cor 
gress, and fitting it up for the accommodation of the House of Represents 
fives, at the ensuing session." Here, Latrobe tells us, their extremel 
inconvenient situation during the session of 1805-06 "created a very gres 
impatience in all the members to occupy their new Hall, at the next sej 
sion." Indeed, they specially called upon the President to carry the wor 
upon the south wing to completion by that time, but it proved to be im 
possible. On December 8, 1806, one of the Representatives observed ths 
" he had kept his seat not without considerable alarm " • and it was resolve 
that the Speaker take steps to pull down the plastering or otherwise secur 
" the ceiling of the chamber in which the sessions of the House are now held.' 
This had swagged in some places more than half an inch, and in another pai 
of the House had actually fallen down. 

In the spring of 1807, in conformity to a report of the Superintendent, 
bill was prepared providing for the alteration, as well as the repair, of the eas 
side of the north wing. It proposed to make two stories of the Senate Cham 
ber, and to apply the upper one to the courts. The Senate was to be accom 
modated on the west side of the north wing, by demolishing the Library 
committee rooms, etc., and making in their place one large room. Whe: 
the bill came to the House, however, it was amended, Mr. J. R. William 
saying that he knew of but one reason for the proposed change : "It was t 
make things correspond with the parliamentary language. When a bill is sen 



The National Capitol '^ 



A^^ from the Senate to the House of Representatives, it will, if the altera- 

uT. rplace, rea ly descend, as this House will be about fifteen fee, lower 

Lan the Senate " Rather than incur a great expense for such an object, he 

continued he •< .ould rather alter the language and say, a b,U .s sent up to 

*'^ftre"ott7thryt f/ofth: .ranrmg of the roof of the south wing 
was pu on and during Ihe winter it was covered in. The greatest exerfons 
Tre then made to Inish the interior, in order to be ready for the early 
reetingof the House in October, rSo,. Latrobe seems somewhat to have 
" ered -n^ornton's plan for this chamber by substituting a halm the form of 
t' lo semi-crcles abutt.ng on a parallelogram " for one of eU.pt.cal sh P . 
"The seats of the members will occupy the area of the House, he reports 
..and look to the south. Behind the Speaker's cha.r .s a small chambe 
appropriated to his use. The House is surrounded by a plain wall seven feet 
S The .4 Corinthian columns which rise upon this wall and support the 
S; are .6 feet 8 inches in height, the entablature ■'//«' .'"f' *^ 
Wock ng course i foot 6 inches, and the dome rises r. feet 6 inches m 
, 7, Lt 8 inches The area within the wall is 85 feet 6 inches wide. 
T e p ce wi h n fte external walls is no feet by 86 feet " The Corin 
I an columns, probably of freestone, and *- ornate capitals were fin.hed 
uDon the ground. There were at this tune m the service of the gmernmen , 
trskillful Italian sculptors, Andrei and Franzoni, who, with their pupil, 
^metir, an American citizen, were employed, for the most part, upon 
this and the other more difficult work at the Capitol. 

In .807 Latrobe sent a letter to Congress, and the followmg extracts are 
worthy of perusal, not only for their description of the south wing, but for 
Tdr picture of ome of the difficulties under which the early Congresses 



labored : 



" In the distribution of the House, it is provided that the access of those citizens who 
attend n th gallery solely for the purpose of being present at the debates, .s on the south 
attend in the gaiiery y p _^trance which leads to the apartments appropriated 

front, at a distance from the eastern entrance w ^ . communication 

to legislative business. Between hes^^^^^^^^^^ lb"' dSr is only intended to admit 
^ Thtr ie-n:? rgr;,tirt: tecute^ln order of the House for the exclusion 

\ °' ''""xhus" all intrusion upon the business of the House and of its committees, may be 

.ndofTh'ct. The committee^ooms ranged oth^^^^^ 
chamber or waiting room, to each range, for the use ot those citizens w 
committees, and who, heretofore, had no accommodation but ^-^^^l^^^'^^J^^or 
eallery of the House afforded. Such persons must of necessity enter at the ^^^'^'l^^^'. 
' ^ 'Vrom this entrance also the staircases lead up to the door of the House. Within the 
\House 'reTobbL aTeto the right and left. The position of the Doorkeeper gives him an 



30 The National Capitol 

immediate view of every one who enters, while the interior of the House cannot be seen 
excepting from the galleries of, the lobbies. There is, therefore, no temptation to continu- 
ance in the lobby, but for the sake of hearing the debates from its galleries, in which the 
presence of the House will preserve order and silence. 

" Within the colonnade of the House there is no room for any persons not members of 
the House, excepting on the seats under the northern part of the wall. Those seats were 
erected on the presumption that the House might appropriate the same to the use of the 
Senators of the United States, when attending the House, and of such other persons, dis- 
tinguished by their official characters, as the House might judge proper to admit to them. 

" It will be in the recollection of the members that, in the north wing of the Capitol, 
in which were all the committee rooms and the Clerk's office, even during the sitting of 
the House in the temporary building, erected on the site of the south wing, every one, 
without discrimination, had access to all the passages of the building. It was, indeed, 
impossible to distinguish those who ought from those who otighi not to have entered. The 
consequence was, that every part was crowded by those who had and by more who had no 
business in the House. There are annually from four to five hundred persons whom their 
affairs bring to the seat of Government during the sitting of the National Legislature ; for 
these citizens the interior of the House afforded the only shelter during the severity of the 
Winter. The lobby of the House was, therefore, usually filled with a part of them, to the 
great inconvenience of the members, and sometimes to the interruption of the legislative 
business. Besides these, idle and dissolute persons ranged the whole building ; the walls 
were defaced by obscenity and libels ; the public furniture and utensils of the House were 
considered as fair objects of depredation ; and, were I to state the amount of some of the 
depredations, it would appear almost incredible. The committee rooms themselves have 
not been secure from the most improper intrusion ; and, to particularise only one fact, 
much of the leakage of the roof arose from the smaller pieces of lead, called flashings, 
being stolen. ..." 



It is evident that the propensity of boys in those days was much the same 
as it is to-day ; for the architect adds, in the same report, " some restriction 
might probably be laid upon the intrusion of boys of all colors beyond the 
outer door, by regulating the occupancy of these lobbies." 

In March of the following year, Latrobe tells us, the south wing was vir- 
tually complete. The wood-work, though primed, and the walls, however, 
required painting; while only two of the capitals of the Corinthian columns 
were entirely finished, eight in a state of forwardness, and fourteen only 
rough-hewn. Also the moulding of the cornice, the sculpture over the entrance, 
two small capitals in the circular vestibule and other minor details still 
needed attention. 

On December ii, 1S09, Latrobe reports: 

" When the House first occupied the south wing, the number of committees and com- 
mittee rooms was only seven. The Committee of the District of Columbia has since then been 
created and great inconvenience has been experienced for want of a room sufficiently 
spacious for their increasing business. At present, their sittings are held in the small 
chamber fitted up for the use of the President whenever he comes to the Capitol." 



The National Capitol 3« 

After the completion of the permanent quarters for the Representatives, 
Latrobe turned his attention to the north wing, which had been constructed 
previous to his appointment as architect. The main appropriations, of 
$20,000 each, for this portion of the building were made March 3, 1809, and 
May I, 1 8 10. The former act contained also an appropriation of $5,000 
" for completing the staircase, and providing temporary and adequate accom- 
modations for the Library, in the room now used for that purpose, and in the 
one in which the Senate now sit." 

Latrobe, in the report of 1809, thus describes the progress of the work : 

" The court room, the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court, and the office and 
library of the judges have also been nearly completed, and may be occupied the approaching 
session of the court [February Term, 1810] . . . the court room and those offices on the 
ground story, which support the Senate chamber, and other apartments of the Senate above, 
were necessarily constructed out of the general fund of the north wing. 

" The whole east side and centre of the north wing being now permanently completed, 
excepting the part deficient in the Senate chamber, the iron work of the staircase, and some 
minor details, I again beg leave to call your attention to the west side of this wing ; it is 
intended to contain the library, and is in such a state of decay throughout, as to render it 
dangerous to postpone the work proposed. It is now the only part of the Capitol that 
remains to be solidly re-built. 

" But independently of this consideration, the increasing extent of the library of Con- 
gress induces me to represent to you the necessity of constructing the rooms intended per- 
manently to contain it. Should the work be commenced in the appropriate season, the 
books may be removed, and the library and reading rooms fitted up for use by the session 
after the next." 

These repairs had been much needed, as is shown by Latrobe's report * of 
March 23, 1808 : 

" The accommodation of the Senate and of the Courts is very far from being convenient 
for the despatch of public business . . . the present chamber of the Senate cannot be con- 
sidered as altogether safe, either as to the plastering, of which the columns and entablature 
consist, or as to its floor and ceiling . . . rooms in the third story, which have never been 
finished, but which will be highly useful apartments whenever the wing shall be completed." 

The same report informs us why these repairs had not been begun under 
the appropriation of March 3, 1807, for the general repair of the wing: 

" The floors and ceilings of the Senate chamber and library being also rotten, it was 
judged most prudent and necessary to begin with a thorough repair of the centre from the 
foundation, and not to disturb these apartments, the use of which could not be dispensed 
unth the ensuing session ; for, had the roof of the Senate chamber been opened, no exer- 
tions could have completed the repairs in proper time, . , . 

" In the great staircase the old wooden skylight and cove was entirely taken down, and 
a solid brick cupola turned over this large area of forty-five by thirty-five feet, and crowned 
by a lantern light." 



See Jefferson's letter, Appendix, p. 252. 



32 The National Capitol 

The repairs in the Court room in 1809 seem to have been made during a 
recess of the Court and not to have interfered with its sittings. It was far 
otherwise with the repairs in the Senate Chamber. On Washington's Birth- 
day, 1809, that body resolved that the surveyor of the public buildings, "with 
as little expense as may consist with the reasonable comfort of the members, 
and with the convenience of spectators," prepare "The Library Room " for 
its accomniodation at the next session. This began, by a special act of 
Congress, on INIay 2 2d, but lasted until only the 28th of June, when both 
Houses adjourned to meet on the fourth Monday in November. On New 
Year's Day, 1810, the Senate returned to its chamber. Six months before, it 
had appropriated ^15,000 to finish and furnish its permanent abode, together 
with the committee rooms, lobbies and other apartments. An additional 
appropriation of jri 1,600 had been made to defray the expense incurred in 
fitting up the temporary chamber, and in providing and repairing articles of 
furniture. 

Both wings were built of freestone from quarries upon an island in Acquia 
Creek, in the State of Virginia, which island the government had purchased 
in 1791 for the sum of |!6, 000. They were connected in 181 1 by a wooden 
bridge, running north and south, 100 feet in length; and in this condition, 
save for certain repairs and for some sculpture in the House and finishing 
touches to the Senate Chamber, the Capitol remained until the fire in 1814. 

The official estimates show that ^491,194.19 were the net expenditures 
upon the old building, out of Congressional appropriations, from 1803 to 
1819. A goodly part of the cost of the old Capitol was defrayed from dona- 
tions of the State of Maryland, which contributed $72,000 to the fund for the 
erection of public buildings in Washington, and of the State of Virginia, 
which voted $120,000 for the like good cause. In this connection it is 
amusing to reflect upon the candid expression of Washington in his letter of 
August 29, 1793, to the Commissioners of the Federal District: "Querv — 
In what manner would it be proper to state the accounts with the States of 
Virginia and Maryland, they having ad^•anceei monies which have not been 
all expended on the objects for which they were appropriated ? " 



BURNING OF THE CAPITOL, 1814 

Congress continued to occupy the two small wings until the ill-fated 24th 
day of August, 1814. Our second war with Great Britain was then at its 
height. Madison was President. A few days before, an English fleet, com- 
manded by Admiral Cockburn and carrying troops under the command of 
General Ross, sailed up the Patuxent. The main debarkation took place at 
Benedict on the west bank of the river, whence the troops marched to Blad- 
ensburg, where an engagement ensued. An ignominious rout of the Americans 
followed, due, perhaps, as much to the policy of the generals as to the rawness 
of the troops. 

By General Winder's orders, the Americans fell back on the Capitol and 
awaited the advancing enemy. "There," says IngersoU in his Bis/o?y of 
the Second War, " General Armstrong suggested throwing them into the two 
wings of that stone, strong building. But General Winder with warmth 
rejected the proposal. . . . Colonel Monroe [afterwards President] coin- 
cided with General Winder's opinion. The Capitol, he feared, might prove 
a cul-de-sac, from which there would be no escape ; the only safety was to 
rally on the heights beyond Georgetown. . . . Both at their first order to 
retreat toward the Capitol, and their last to retreat from it, and march beyond 
the city, insubordinate protests, oaths, tears, and bitter complaints broke 
forth. To preserve order in ranks so demoralized and degraded was impossi- 
ble. Broken, scattered, licentious, and tumultuous, they wandered along the 
central, solitary avenue, which is the great entry of Washington; when arrived 
at Georgetown, were a mere mob, from which it was preposterous to suppose 
that an army could be organised to make a stand there." 

This defeat of the Americans at Bladensburg, and the retreat, or rather 
flight, of the soldiers through the city, abandoning the government buildings 
to the mercy of the enemy, was the signal for a general panic. Every sort of 
vehicle was pressed into service to remove valuables from private homes and 
public offices. The President, after taking the field, found his counsel use- 
less, and fled, as did Mrs. Madison, who stopped only to see to the removal 
from the White House of silver and other articles of value, including the pict- 
ure of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart which, because of her womanly 
though tfulness, still adorns its walls. In this connection we quote her vivid 
letter to her sister, Mrs. Cutts, hastily written at the White House before the 
departure. If the officers and soldiers had been possessed of more of the 



34 



The National Capitol 



sense and heroism of this great woman, the city itself might have been 
saved. 

" Twelve O'clock. — Since sunrise I have been turning my spyglass in every 
direction, and watching with unwearied anxiety, hoping to discover the 
approach of my dear husband and friends ; but alas, I can descry only groups 



■ 


la 




i, 


1 j^idK^v, 

mil* ^i '1 ' V 






^ -'iif- 




■1 

i i 




1 




A -ii 


-.- M> 


^-^^.^t'£iMnMHi 


^^'.•«M 








\.4 fe- 


■■f. 


1 


W^>i^ ^M 


^'^^^'*'^. ......sa-S!^^** 


" 









THE CAPITOL, 1814 



of military wandering in all directions, as if there were a lack of arms or of 
spirit to fight for their own firesides." 

"Three O'clock. — Will you believe it, my sister, we have had a battle or 
skirmish near Bladensburg, and here I am still within sound of the cannon. 
Mr. Madison comes not. May God protect us ! Two messengers covered 
with dust come to bid me fly, but here I mean to wait for him. ... At 
this late hour a wagon has been procured and I have had it filled with plate and 
the most valuable portable articles belonging to the house. Whether it will 
reach its destination — the Bank of Maryland — or fall into the hands of British 
soldiery, events must determine. Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to 



The National Capitol 35 

hasten my departure, and is in a very bad humour with me because I insist in 
waiting until the large picture of General Washington is secured, and it 
requires to be unscrued from the wall. This process was found too tedious for 
these perilous moments. I have ordered the frame to be broken and the can- 
vas taken out. It is done ; and the precious portrait placed in the hands of 
two gentlemen of New York for safe-keeping. 

" And now, my dear sister, I must leave this house, or the retreating army 
will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the road I am directed to take." 

The city was soon deserted, except by lawlessness and anarchy. " Many 
passed the night," writes Ingersoll, "in huts and cornfields around the 
town. The first considerable dwelling the enemy was to pass had been Mr. 
Gallatin's residence, the house of Mr. Sewall, some hundred yards east of 
the Capitol. From behind the side wall of that house, as is supposed, at all 
events from or near to it, a solitary musket, fired by some excited and perhaps 
intoxicated person, believed to be a well-known Irish barber, but never 
ascertained who was the perpetrator, no doubt aimed at General Ross, killed 
the bay mare he rode." 

On reaching the Capitol, the enemy detailed a body of men to take pos- 
session of the building. Admiral Cockburn, incensed, no doubt, by the shot 
which killed Ross's horse, impudently ascended the rostrum in the House of 
Representatives, sprang into the Speaker's chair in his muddy boots, and, 
calling his battle-stained troops to order in mock parliament, shouted deri- 
sively : " Shall this harbor of Yankee Democracy be burned ? All for it will 
say. Aye ! " An unanimous cry in the affirmative arose from the soldiers, and 
the order was cheerfully given. By means of rockets, tar barrels found in the 
neighborhood, broken furniture, heaps of books from the Library, and pictures, 
including the full-length paintings* of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI., 
which had been presented by that unfortunate monarch to Congress, the whole 
structure was soon in flames. This infamous act stamped Sir George Cockburn, 
admiral and baronet of England, a barbarian who justly merits the contempt 
of posterity. How strange that it fell to his lot, in the autumn of 1815, tri- 
umphantly to execute in the " Northumberland " the sentence of deportation 
to St. Helena, which had been passed upon Bonaparte. 

Fortunately, the storm which had been threatening during the approach 
of the English, aided by a few patriotic hands, finally extinguished the flames. 
But too late ! It is recorded as having had a velocity so great as to destroy 
many buildings and trees in the city, and as portending to the superstitious 
such dire calamity as the upheavals in Rome when Caesar fell. 

Rev. G. R. Gleig, who, with a detachment of the British troops, had spent 
the night in the storm outside the city, and whose ardor was, no doubt, damp- 

* For resolution of Congress containing letter of acceptance, see Appendix, p. 260. 



36 The National Capitol 

ened thereby, says : "As soon as dawn appeared, the brigade moved from its 
bivouac on the common, and marched into the town. Proceeding along a 
narrow street, whicli was crossed at right angles by two or three of a 'similar 
description, we arrived at a large open space, surrounded on three sides by the 
rudiments of a square, and having its fourth imperfectly occupied by the ruins 
of the Senate-House. It is slightly raised above the level of the rest of the 
city, and is crossed by a paltry stream, called in true Yankee grandiloquence, 
the Tiber, as the hill itself is called the Capitol. Here the brigade halted, 
and piling their arms in two close columns, the men were permitted to lie 
down." 

By this invasion of the English, the last volumes of the manuscript rec- 
ords of the Committees of Ways and Means, Claims and Pensions, and Revo- 
lutionary Claims, which were then being prepared for Congress, were destroyed, 
in spite of the fact that after the battle of Bladensburg they were removed by 
Mr. Frost to the " house commonly called George Washington's, which house 
being unexpectedly consumed by fire, these records were unfortunately lost." 
The Congressional Library, and the secret journal of Congress, which was kept 
in a private drawer and in the hurry forgotten, were consumed in the building 
itself, together with many private papers, petitions, valuable effects and the 
private accounts and vouchers of Patrick INIagruder, Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, among which were unfortunately the accounts and receipts 
for the expenditure of the contingent moneys of the House. These last were 
locked in a private drawer to which Magruder only had the key, and the clerks, 
delaying breaking it open, finally forgot them. The Executive Departments 
of the government, however, removed their eifects in time to a place of 
safety under the direction of their Secretaries, a fact which served to heighten 
the criticism heaped upon the authorities at the Capitol for the irreparable 
loss sustained there. 

Considerable light is thrown upon the subject by the letter of the Clerk 
to the House, September 20, 1814, and by the enclosed report addressed to 
him by his assistants, S. Burch and J. T. Frost, from which it seems Magruder 
in July had gone to the Springs for his health, so that he was absent from the 
city, when unexpectedlv, on August 19th, " the whole body of the militia of 
the District of Columbia was called out, under which call every clerk of the 
office was taken into the field, except Mr. Frost, and marched to meet the 
enemy." On the 21st, Burch Avas furloughed at the request of Colonel George 
Magruder, in order that he might return to the Capitol and save such papers 
as was possible " in case the enemy should get possession of the place." He 
arrived the same night. His instructions were, however, not to begin pack- 
ing up until " the clerks at the War Office were engaged in that business," 
which he did not ascertain to be the case until noon of the 2 2d. At that late 
hour, Burch found that the few conveyances which had not already been 



The National Capitol 37 

** impressed into the service of the United States for the transportation of the 
baggage of the army," were loaded with private effects, and tliese he could 
not hire; nor had he the power to impress them. As a last resort, he dis- 
patched three messengers into the country, one of whom obtained from John 
Wilson, whose residence was six miles from the city, a cart and four oxen, 
which did not arrive until after dark. With this primitive conveyance, that 
very night, they transported some of the papers to a secret spot nine miles 
from Washington, and continued to remove such books and records as they 
were able with the one cart until the morning of the battle. Strange to say, 
a goodly part of the papers so removed turned out to be valuable. 

Popular feeling at the time in America regarding the whole affair naturally 
was bitter, and was voiced by Jefferson in a letter of February 14, 1815, 
from Monticello to his friend, the Marquis de Lafayette : " The force desig- 
nated by the president was double what was necessary, but failed, as is the 
general opinion, through the insubordination of Armstrong, who would never 
believe the attack intended until it was actually made, and the sluggishness of 
Winder before the occasion, and his indecision during it. Still, in the end, 
the transaction has helped rather than hurt us, by arousing the general indig- 
nation of our country, and marking to the world of Europe the vandalism 
and brutal character of the English Government. It has merely served to 
immortalise their infamy." 

Even many Englishmen bitterly condemned the acts perpetrated by their 
countrymen in the American capital, as unworthy of civilized warfare. The 
letter of Grenville to John Trumbull of November 23, 1814, though couched 
in most diplomatic language, does not wholly conceal his true feelings : " I 
was prepared and resolved to pursue the subject further, nor did I desist from 
that intention, until I received public and solemn assurances, that orders had 
already been sent out to America for the discontinuance of such measures, 
and for a return of the practice of modern and civilized war, provided the 
same course shall in future be adhered to by those whom I lament to call our 
enemies." The London Statesman went so far as to say : " Willingly would 
we throw a veil of oblivion over our transactions at Washington. The Cos- 
sacks spared Paris, but we spared not the Capitol of America." 



RE-ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS 

The triumphal entry of the British into the capital, the destruction of the 
government buildings by fire, 'and the retreat the following day, created intense 
excitement in the land. Because of the extraordinary necessity. Congress 
was convened in extra session at Washington, September 19th, by special 
proclamation of the President : 

Washington, September 17, 1814. 

Sir : The destruction of the Capitol, by the enemy, having- made it necessary that other 
accommodations should be provided for the meeting of Congress, Chambers for the Senate 
and for the House of Representatives, with other requisite apartments, have been fitted up, 
under the direction of the Superintendent of the City, in the public building heretofore 
allotted for the Post and other public offices. 

James Madison. 

The story of the re-assembling of Congress is told by Paul Jennings, the 
colored body servant of James Madison and, afterwards, the servant of Daniel 
Webster, more clearly than by some learned writers. In his Reminiscences, 
he says : 

" Congress met in extra session, at Blodgett's old shell of a house on 7th 
street (where the General Post Office now stands). It was three stories high, 
and had been used for a theatre, a tavern, an Irish boarding-house, etc. ; but 
both Houses of Congress managed to get along, notwithstanding it had to 
accommodate the Patent-office, City and General Post-office, committee- 
rooms, and what was left of the Congressional Library, at the same time. 
Things are very different now." 

Tradition interestingly asserts that this Patent Office building was saved 
to Congress through the daring of Thornton, the designer of the Capitol. 
Seeing an English officer order a gun turned upon it, he dashed up, and leap- 
ing from his horse before its very muzzle, exclaimed excitedly : " Are you 
Englishmen, or Goths and Vandals ? This is the Patent Office, the depository 
of the inventive genius of America, in which the whole civilized world is 
concerned. Would you destroy it ? If so, fire away, and let the charge pass 
through my body." 

We cannot wonder at the discontent which followed the meeting of Con- 
gress under such unfortunate and disheartening conditions, nor that the occa- 
sion formed a pretext for those who had fought the city of Washington as a 
permanent seat of government, to be bitter in their expressions and criti- 



The National Capitol 39 

cisms. The city was still little more than a wilderness ; the Capitol, the 
President's mansion and other government buildings were ruins. The very 
ground had been contaminated by the feet of an insolent, vandal-like enemy. 
The Library of Congress and many records of the government were ashes. 
In the course of debate, Mr. Stockton, Representative from New Jersey, not 
without cause, complained, " in regard to ourselves, here we are in the Patent 
office ; in a room not large enough to furnish a seat for each member, when 
all are present, although every spot, up to the fire-place and windows, is occu- 
pied." 

Under the guise of a temporary removal, those interested in other cities 
pressed a permanent change in the seat of government to some more conve- 
nient and less dishonored spot. Mr. Jonathan Fisk of New York introduced 
the initial resolution which led to this ; and in the war of words which en- 
sued, the ground was all fought over before the project for removal was finally 
defeated, October 15th, by a vote of 8^ to 74. Local feeling naturally was 
intense, and President Madison, who, in the original debates in the House 
of Representatives, had been active in favoring the establishment of the seat 
of government upon the banks of the Potomac, had now to exercise his utmost 
influence to keep it there. 

" The next summer " (1815), continues Jennings, " Mr. John Law, a large 
property holder about the Capitol, fearing it would not be re-built, got up a 
subscription and built a large brick building (now called the Old Capitol, 
where the Secesh prisoners are now confined), and offered it to Congress for 
their use, till the Capitol should be re-built. This coaxed them back, though 
strong efforts were made to move the seat of government North ; but the 
Southern members kept it here." 

While yet in the Patent Office, both Houses had been considering meas- 
ures by which they might be more conveniently accommodated, either by an 
alteration of their present chambers or by procuring other rooms within a 
convenient distance of public buildings ; and if haste in acceptance means 
anything, they welcomed most cordially the proposals of the committee on 
behalf of the owners of the new '' Capitol." On December 6, 181 5, the 
committee on behalf of the House reported that they believed the building 
would " be ready for their reception on Monday next," and on Monday, the 
nth, the Senate adjourned " to meet on Wednesday next, in the new building 
on Capitol Hill." This, the owners claimed, cost ^30,000 without the 
ground, ^5,000 of which was expended in fitting it up for the use of Con- 
gress. They offered to lease it, after the repayment of the ^5,000, at a yearly 
rental of $1,650, which was " an interest upon their capital of six per cent., 
with the addition of the price of insurance " ; and upon these terms the Presi- 
dent was authorized on the 8th to lease it for a term of one year, and " thence 
until the Capitol is in a state of readiness for the reception of Congress." 



4° The National Capitol 

Here Congress was still sitting when, on Oecember i. 1S17, Monroe in his 
annual message regretted that, though the progress of the public buildings had 
been as favorable as circumstances permitted, " the Capitol is not yet in a 
state to receive you. There is good cause to presume, that the two wings, 
the only parts as yet commenced, will be prepared for that purpose at the next 
session." It was not. however, until December 7, 1S19, that he coidd say to 
Congress, who had met the day before : " The public building? being advanced 
to a stng^ to afford accommodation for Congress, I offer wu my sincere con- 
gratulations upon the recommencement of your duties in the Capitol." 



THE R1-:BITILDINC; ok 'IM-LE CAPITOL 

StioN after the bill for the removal of the seat of government was defeated 
and all chances in that direction made hopeless, at least for the present, 
measures were taken for the restoration of the public buildings. Latrobe was 
recalled from Pittsburg, where he was building steamboats in conjunction with 
l'\ilton, Livingstone and Roosevelt, his son-in-law, to inspect the ruins of the 
Capitol anil superintend its reconstruction. 

Li the report of the committee, communicated to Congress November 
21, 1814, the following is found to be the condition. of the walls after the 
conllagration : " JMom the suggestions of the architects consulted and also from 
the observations of the committee, they are of the opinion that parts of the 
walls. ar(-hcs and columns of the late buildings are in a state requiring a small 
expense for workmanship and materials, to preserve them from injur}' by the 
weather, and from falling down, thereby endangering the vaulting, which sup- 
ports some of the tloors. and which, at present, is very little if at all, weak- 
ened bv the burning." 

"Nt»r(li an<l South AVinii'ss. — Erom Latrobe we obtain a more specific 
knowledge of the damage done by the English, and of the process of rebuild- 
ing. In a letter written at the Capitol, November 28, 1S16, but not com- 
municated to the House of Representatives until February 18, 1S17, he says: 

" Tho South Winj;' of tlio Capitol." — " Tlte south wing- of tlie C'apitol remains inter- 
nally ii\ the state in which it was left at the close of the year 1S15, excepting- in as far as the 
suggestions of the committee of the House of Representatives . . . have been so far 
executed as to prepare the south windows of their hall for an access to a platform along 
the south front. I'xteinally all the injury which was done to the windows and doors by the 
tire, has been repaired. . . . The Hall of Representatives was so ruined that, although 
the columns and the vaults they supported still stood, it was inevitably necessary to take 
them down, so as to clear the whole area of the principal story of the former work." 

It seems that, when Congress resolved to repair and rebuild the Capitol, 
no building materials were to be found in the District. At that time the 
quarries, which were situated forty miles below the city on the Potomac, had 
been neglected for some years, and time and much labor would have been 
required to re-open them. 

"For the columns," continues Latrobe in his report, "and for various other parts of 
the House of Representatives, no free-stone that could be at all admitted has been dis- 
covered. Other resources were therefore sought after. A stone hitherto considered only as 
,-in encumbrance to agriculture, which exists in inexhaustible quantity at tlie foot of the most 



42 The National Capitol 

south easterly range of our Atlantic mountains, . . . certainly from the Roanoke to the 
Schuylkill, and which the present surveyor of the Capitol, and probably others, had many 
years ago discovered to be very hard but beautiful marble — was examined, and, 
has been proved to answer every expectation that was formed, not only of its beauty, but of 
its capacity to furnish columns of any length, and to be applicable to any purpose to which 
colored marble can be applied. The present commissioner of the public buildings has, 
therefore, entered into a contract for all the columns, and progress has been made in quarry- 
ing them. They may be produced each of a single block. . . . The quarries are situ- 
ated in Loudon County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland. 

" North Wing of the Capitol." — "The north wing of the Capitol was left after the 
fire in a much more ruinous state than the south wing. The whole of the interior of the 
west side having been constructed of timber, and the old shingle roof still remaining over 
the greatest part of the wing, an intensity of heat was produced which burnt the walls most 
exposed to it, and, being driven by the wind into the Senate chamber, burnt the marble 
columns to lime, cracked everything that was of free-stone, and, finding vent through the 
windows and up the private stairs, damaged the exterior of the wing very materially. Great 
efforts were made to destroy the court room, which was built with uncommon solidity, by 
collecting into it, and setting fire to, the furniture of the adjacent rooms. By this means 
the columns were cracked exceedingly; but it still stood, and the vault was uninjured. It 
was, however, very slenderly supported and its condition dangerous. Of the Senate cham- 
ber no parts were injured but such as were of marble or free-stone. The vault was entire, 
and required no repair whatever. The great staircase was much defaced, but might have 
been reinstated without being taken down. 

" In this state the north wing was found when the work on the Capitol was commenced 
in 1815. The plan of the wing was determined in 1807, and laid before Congress. The 
original document having escaped destruction, the work was begun in conformity thereto, 
and some progress made in the construction of the offices of the judiciary and of the library, 
when a very important and extensive improvement of the apartments of Senate was sug- 
gested by the honorable body, and ordered by the President to be carried into execution. 

" In pursuance of this order, it was necessary to take down the vaults which had been 
constructed on the west side of the house and to raise them to the level of the principal floor. 
This alteration was the only one which affected the work carried up in the year 1815. It was 
affected in the months of May and June. The ruinous state of the building further required 
that the dome of the central vestibule, the colonnade, and all the vaulting of the court 
room, and the dome of the great stairs, with all the walls as far as they were injured, should 
be taken down. The enlargement of the Senate chamber required that the great dome of 
that apartment and its semi-circular wall be entirely removed, and that the arches and walls 
of the two committee rooms, and the lobby adjoining the chamber, should also be demol- 
ished. All this was promptly accomplished, and the new apartments carried up with all the 
speed which was consistent with solidity ; so that all the committee rooms on the floor of 
the Senate are completely constructed and vaulted, and the wall of the Senate chamber 
itself has advanced to the height of ten feet from the floor. 

" The new vault of the court room, much more extensive than the former, is also com- 
pleted. All the new work is so constructed as in no part whatever to bear on the old walls, 
but to serve as a support to them ; and the whole is so bound and connected together as to 
render the building much more strong and durable than it was before the conflagration." 

About this time Jefferson writes to the Secretary of State : ''If it be pro- 
posed to place an inscription on the Capitol, the lapidary style requires that 



The National Capitol 43 

essential facts only should be stated, and these with a brevity admitting no 
superfluous word. The essential facts in the two inscriptions are these : 

" Founded 1791. — Burnt by a British Army 1814. — Restored by Congress 
1817. 

" . . . But a question of more importance is whether there should be 
one at all ? The barbarism of the conflagration will immortalize that of the 
nation. It will place them forever in degraded comparison Avith the execrated 
Bonaparte, who, in possession of almost every capitol in Europe, injured no 
one." 

In its construction and rebuilding the Capitol was never without the direct 
supervision of the Presidents. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, 
Monroe and John Quincy Adams, each in turn, presided over its destiny 
and often descended to the consideration of the most minute details with a 
grace rather startling to the ideas of dignity commensurate with the office 
in the minds of some later Presidents. During the work of restoration, in the 
spring of 181 7, President Monroe guarded its rebuilding with a fatherlj 
concern almost equal to that displayed by Washington in its building. He 
gave directions as to the Potomac marble to be used in the columns for the 
chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate and as to the quarry- 
ing of the same, not forgetting instructions for the workmen. He ordered 
that the dome of the Senate wing be built of brick and the corresponding 
one above the House of Representatives, of wood, adding specific directions 
as to where and how materials for each should be obtained. He urged, 
beyond everything, the necessity of so far completing the building as to have 
it in readiness for the meeting of Congress the following fall. The President 
considered even the "tools, lumber, nails, spikes and provisions" for the 
Capitol, and ordered " sheds to be erected for the workmen, for cooking and 
as store houses without delay." x^t the same time, he gave directions for the 
distribution of provisions to the employes, the keeping of accounts and 
receipts, and for a report to be made to the Executive each Monday regard- 
ing the progress on the work. 

In November, 181 7, the two wings being practically restored, Latrobe sent 
in his resignation and retired from the work, except to carry out in good 
faith the offer he had made in his letter of resignation, to give such drawings, 
instructions and information to the public as would enable his successor to 
complete the plans which he had begun and which, he seemed to think, could 
not well be altered. His motives for retiring, by his own account, were 
"partly personal," and though there was an undoubted difference between 
him and the Commissioner, and many complaints that he attended to his pri- 
vate affairs to the detriment of the work at the Capitol, there can be little 



44 The National Capitol 

doubt of his sincere attachment to the welfare of the building. Nor would 
his ability as an architect have been seriously questioned, had not an arch 
given way in 1808, causing the death of Mr. Lenthall, and later, one above 
the corridor before the Supreme Court Chamber. In commenting upon the 
latter in a report made January 18, i8ig, after his resignation, Latrobe says : 

" The centre of the north wing demanded light from above; and its symmetry with 
the south wing, which could only be lighted by a cupola, demanded a similar construction 
on the north wing. 

" Therefore it was almost unavoidable, and certainly it was highly advisable, that the 
chimneys should be carried up as well as concealed in the piers of the cupola. This had 
been done before, and, although the cupola was never raised above the dome, its base had 
existed, and, with the arches that supported it, remained unimpaired by the fire of 1814. 

" . . . But, deprived of this support, the object I had to attain was this : To con- 
struct over the cavity of the Senate chamber and its wooden dome an arch or other support 
sufficient to bear the cupola necessary to light the centre of the house, and also to carry six- 
teen or eighteen chimneys concealed in the cupola, and, at the same time, to produce a 
handsom^e effect in looking up from the vestibule of the Senate, from which the whole con- 
struction would be seen. And I believe that I perfectly attained this object in all its 
parts, provided the arch had been made to stand." 

We undoubtedly owe to Latrobe the restoration and interior finish of the 
old wings, as well as their surmounting cupolas and dome-shaped roofs. 
Statuary Hall, also, was his design. The old Capitol could not be called 
completed, however, until 1830, thirteen years after Latrobe' s resignation and 
the succession to his position of Charles Bulfiiich of Boston, the first 
architect of the Capitol who was American-born. During a visit to Washing- 
ton before he had the intention of making it his home, in a letter of Feb- 
ruary 7, 1817, to Mrs. H. Bulfinch, Latrobe's successor writes: "Nothing 
announces a metropolis until we approach an assemblage of brick houses, 
forming a village, and immediately contiguous to them two stone edifices of 
richly ornamented architecture. These are the wings of the Congress hall ; 
they were burnt, as far as they were combustible, and are now undergoing 
repair. They have been chiselled in such a manner that all external marks 
of fire are removed." 

How Bulfinch came to be architect of the Capitol is told by himself in 
his brief Autobiography: "About November following [1817], I received a 
letter from William Lee Esq., one of the Auditors at Washington, and in 
the confidence of the President, stating the probability of the removal of Mr. 
Latrobe, the architect of the Capitol, and proposing that I should apply for 
his place. I declined making any application that might lead to Mr. La- 
trobe's removal ; but before the end of the year, disagreements between him 
and the Commissioner became so serious that he determined to resign, and 
his resignation was immediately accepted. On receiving information of this, 



The National Capitol 45 

in another letter from Mr. Lee, I made regular application through J. Q. A., 
Secretary of State, and by return Post received notice from him of my ap- 
pointment, with a salary of $2,500, and expenses paid of removal of family 
and furniture." 

The new architect entered immediately upon his duties, taking the work 
up where Latrobe had left it; and on the ist of May, 1818, made a report to 
Congress, to which the last report of Latrobe was a reply, on the state of the 
unfortunate arch constructed by his predecessor in the roof of the north wing, 
from which the following interesting extracts are taken : 

"When I entered upon the duties of my office as architect of the Capitol, and ex- 
amined the state of the building, I found that a large arch had been built above the third 
story of the north wing, which was intended to support the stone cupola or lantern on the 
centre of the dome. I was pleased with the ingenuity and boldness of the design by which 
it was intended that a great number of chimneys should be carried upon this arch, and rise 
in the piers of the cupola between its windows. ... I was told that this arch had been 
constructed under the particular direction of Mr. Latrobe, and that the stones of the band 
or curb that formed the opening on the crown of the arch were cut by his particular orders, 
and put in their places before he left the superintendence of the building. I felt perfect 
confidence in Mr. Latrobe's genius as an architect, and his acknowledged skill as an engi- 
neer, that he had well considered the hazard of the proposed construction, and had taken 
every precaution against danger ; and I gave direction to the workmen to proceed strictly 
according to their orders from him. 

" By the 23d of April the chimney flues were all brought into their position on the 
crown of the arch, when the master workman thought it would be proper to loosen the cen- 
tres, that the arch might be proved and take its bearings before the stone cupola should be 
built. On loosening the centre, it was found that the crown of the arch settled with it, and 
that the stones around the circular opening had moved in a few minutes so far as that the 
opening was four inches larger in one direction than in the other ; the joints appearing vio- 
lently compressed in some parts, and open on the others. The workmen left it in alarm 
and considered it very hazardous. I soon came to the determination that the arch could not 
bear the weight of the flues and stone cupola, estimated at 200 tons more than it was 
already charged with ; and, after inspecting the foundation resolved to build a cone of 
brick from the bottom of the dome to the circular opening above, for the purpose "of 
strengthening the arch and supporting the cupola. 

"The great arch in the roof of the north wing is 40 feet in span from north to south, 
and 30 ft. wide from east to west, and rises in a semi-circle ; it is intended to support a 
stone cupola 22 ft. in diameter, with 6 windows in its circumference, and as many piers 
between them, in which 18 chimney flues are to be carried up from the different apart- 
ments of the building. A circular opening is made in the crown of the arch 15 ft. wide 
(the inner diameter of the cupola), to convey light to the interior, and particularly to the 
vestibule of the Senate chamber. 

" One cause of the failure of this arch arises from the circumstance that the circular 
opening is not in the centre. . . . On taking down the centring which opened the 
soffit or under side. of the arch to view, another cause of weakness appeared ; the arch, 
which is two bricks thick, is ornamented with large caissons or coffers of three feet square, 
sunk in the depth of one brick, or half its thickness ; these destroy the bond and connec- 
tion of the work. ... It would be dangerous to trust the arch to bear the weight." 



46 The National Capitol 

Later in the same month, Bulfinch reports : 

" A cone of brick has been made under the opening of the arch ; the chimney flues are 
now brought into their right position, and carried up to the top of the dome roof. The 
work appears fair and substantial, and capable of sustaining the stone lantern which will 
now immediately be built upon it." 

The architect continued to devote himself assiduously to the completion 
of the two wings only, as they were most necessary to the use and comfort 
of Congress. On November 21, 18 18, he reports regarding the condition of 
the north wing : 

"The stone masons have built, on the outside, the entire balustrade of the east and 
west sides, and the attic of the north front, and the stone cupola over the dome. Inside, 
they have laid the marble stairs leading to the principal floor, completed the colonnade of 
the vestibule and part of the gallery of the Senate chamber. The roof has been covered 
with copper ; the apartments and passages of the upper story are plastered and paved ; and 
the doors, shutters, and other carpenter's work will be finished in a few days. The court 
room is proceeding in a state of preparation for the use of the court in December. The 
ceiling of the Senate chamber is rough plastered. . . . The rich and costly colonnade 
and gallery of the Senate chamber . . . is to be wholly of marble, and was contracted 
for in New York to be executed there, and to be delivered here in November, 1817." 

In speaking of the progress on the south wing, in the same report, Bulfinch 

says : 

" The columns of Potomac marble of the Representatives room have been prepared and 
set in their places ; the stone entablature, with which they are crowned, and the brick 
arches connecting them with the walls, are built ; the stone enclosure forming the breast of 
the gallery is nearly complete ; the ribs of the dome ceiling are raised and secured ; the 
outer roof is now raising and will be covered in a fortnight, and the ballastrade is nearly 
entire." 

From these and other reports and letters of this period are seen the dififi- 
culty experienced and the interest taken in securing suitable marble for the 
beautiful pillars which adorn the old Senate Chamber, and more especially 
the old Hall of Representatives. The desire was so great on the part of the 
Commissioner and architect that, after securing sufficient breccia or Potomac 
marble for the shafts from the quarries in Loudon County, Virginia, Giovanni 
Andrei was sent in 1815 to Carrara, Italy, to procure of statuary marble their 
twenty-four Corinthian capitals. Latrobe, then architect of the Capitol, 
furnished the necessary drawings to govern in the execution of these, and 
passage was provided for the artist, as well as for Mrs. Andrei, his wife, on 
the United States corvette, John Adams. 

Tlie Central Structure. — Previous to the fire a wooden bridge or cov- 
ered way only had connected the two wings. As soon as these were restored, 
and completed in accordance with Latrobe's designs, Bulfinch turned his 



The National Capitol 

attention to the central structure, which, except upon the west, he ex 
after drawings adapted from the designs which Latrobe had made in folio 
— but only where compelled to do so — Thornton's original plan. The form 
architect in his designs had enlarged the eastern portico, and added sub- 
stantially the present steps which lead from it to the campus. To prepare for 
the new work, it was found necessary on the west front to remove a great body 
of earth, rubbish and old foundation, and to broaden the old foundation of 
the basement story. On November i8, 1818, the architect reports its new 
foundation as laid, the cellar walls of the rotunda as carried to a sufficient 
height to receive the arches intended to form the ground floor, and the exter- 
nal walls of the basement as commenced. The central porticoes and library 
rooms also were now built. The entire work progressed but slowly, however, 
as all work for the government is likely to do, and not until December 6, 
1824, was the President notified: "The interior of the Capitol is now fin- 
ished, with the exception of some painting on the stone work, which is not 
sufficiently seasoned to receive it, and the bas relief ornaments of the rotunda." 

The architect's bed evidently had not been one of roses ; for John Trum- 
bull speaks of the " intrigues which perpetually controlled the good inten- 
tions and pure taste of Mr. Bulfinch." Trumbull seems to have enjoyed the 
architect's confidence, and to have been consulted in the plans for the central 
structure. Bulfinch, at first, proposed a staircase similar to the one in the 
City Hall in New York, but, as it would be imperfect without a dome light,- 
which, in such a plan, could not come in the center of the building, Trum- 
bull apprehensively asked : " How then can you have the grand dome, even 
for show?" Such propositions touched the artist's heart. He was then 
at work upon his historical pictures which are now in the rotunda. In 
regard to the saloon proposed by the architect for a gallery of paintings, 
Trumbull complains: "The pictures must hang opposite to the windows, 
which is the worst possible light; besides which, the columns and projection 
of the portico will darken the room in some degree, and render what light 
there may be, partial and unsteady." 

" I am glad," he writes to Bulfinch, January 28, 1818, " to know that so 
much is done, and magnificently done, at the Capitol; but I feel the deepest 
regret at the idea of abandoning the great circular room and dome. I have 
never seen paintings so advantageously placed in respect to light and space, as 
I think mine would be, in the proposed circular room, illuminated from above. 
The boasted gallery of the Louvre is execrable for paintings — windows on each 
side, and opposite to each other, and the pictures hanging not only between 
them but opposite to them. . . . The same objection applies in its full 
force, to the proposed saloon or gallery in the Capitol ; and I should be 
deeply mortified, if, after having devoted my life to recording the great events 
of the Revolution, my paintings, when finished, should be placed in a disad- 



The National Capitol 

jOus light. In truth, my dear friend, it wouhl paralyze my exertions, 
jad pictures are nearly equal to good, when both are placed in a bad 
^nt." 

The artist, with a view always to his pictures, hastened to suggest com- 
promise plans by which to save the dome, if possible. He proposed to " en- 
close the basement storj' of the two porticos, in the same style of piers and 
arches, as in the wings, and to enter, under each portico, a hall forty-five feet 
by twenty, Avith apartments for door-keepers adjoining — to open a passage 
through the centre of the building, similar in style and dimensions to those 
already existing in the wings, which I also continue so as to meet each other, 
thus forming a simple and obvious communication to all parts of the ground 
l)lan. I suppose the inner diameter of the grand circular dome to be ninety 
feet, and the thickness of the wall five. Nine feet within this wall, I carry 
up a concentric circular wall of equal thickness to the height of the basement 
storA'. Between these two walls I place grand quadruple stairs, beginning at 
the doors of the two halls, and mounting on the right and left, to the floor 
of the dome vestibule. Twenty feet within this inner wall of the stairs, I 
raise a third concentric circular wall, of equal, or (if required) greater 
solidity." 

Around the inner walls of the stairs was to be a bronze railing five feet 
high, with gates at the four entrances, by which it was intended to diminish 
the floor of the vestibule to seventy feet in diameter, so that the spectator 
could not approach nearer than ten feet to the wall on which his paintings 
were to hang, nor view them at a greater distance than eighty feet, which 
being a little more than three diagonals of the surface, the artist thought not 
by any means too great. 

Trumbull urged also that, whatever dislike there might be to Latrobe's 
designs in general, there could be none to that for the rotunda and dome 3 for 
there the late architect had followed the original intentions, he said, " as 
projected by Major L' Enfant, drawn by Dr. Thornton, and adopted by General 
Washington. You will see it so marked on the plan of the city engraved by 
Thackera & Vallence, in Philadelphia, in 1792." "My plan," he adds, 
" differs from that finally adopted by him, essentially, in carrying up the grand 
staircase wi^/un the room, thus rendering it a guard to the paintings, and 
leaving the basement of the two porticos, and the whole substructure, free and 
applicable to economical purposes. I also omit the grand niches which M. 
Latrobe had devised, I presume for the purpose of sculpture. ... I hope 
. . . either upon my plan or some other, you can succeed to preser\'e the 
great central circular room. Indeed, I must entreat you to preserve it if pos- 
sible; and I repeat, that the loss of that, in my opinion, unrivalled situation 
and light for my pictures, I shall lose half my zeal." 

Trumbull's earnest appeals on behalf of his historical paintings, no doubt, 



The Nationil Capitol 

\ 



49 



had their influence. Bulfinch w^iolly discarded Latrobe's Doric temple pro- 
posed for a western entrance, and executed this part of the Capitol mainly 
after his own designs. He adopted a plan by which he gained space for the 
Library in the western center, and at the same time saved the dome. 
His administration saw the building at laist reach a symmetry and convenience 
somewhat adapted, for that period at least, to the uses for which it was 



1 hU 



M 



I i ! 



THE CAPITOL, 1828 



intended. The fault in placing the structure so close to the brow of the hill 
as to exhibit a story lower on its western fi-ont than on its eastern also was 
partially remedied through the skill of the iirchitect, who somewhat destroyed 
the ungainly effect of the basement by a semi -circular glacis, or sloping, 
sodded terrace. 

}3y an act of May 2, 1828, there beir^g no longer any necessity for an 
architect at the Capitol, that office was abolished, though Bulfinch continued 
to superintend the work until the latter part of June, 1829. In 1830, when 
the architect left Washington for New England, the old Capitol was substan- 
tially completed, though some minor detail;, were later executed according to 
directions which he gave before his departure. The building then passed 
4 



so 



The National Cipitol 






under the direction of the Commissioper of P'blic Buildings and Grounds, who 
remained in supervision until the ereiction or t|ie marble extensions in 1851. 

Cuts of this period show three domes, of which the one in the center 
above the rotunda was covered with (:opper. j.nd much the largest. This was 
raised after Bulfinch's own design about 1S2I2 ; those proposed by Thorn- 
ton and Latrobewere not so large. " In 
the rotunda," writes Bulfinch, "a bold 
simplicity has been studied, suitable to 
a great fcentral entrance and passage to 
more riclily finished apartments. The 
room ■'- ^^ feet in diameter, and of the 
pc.uie height." The length of the en- 
tire building at that time was 352 feet 
4 inches; the depth of the wings 121 
feet 6 inches. The portico and steps, 
at the main entrance on the east front, 
projected 65 feet ; while those on the 
west extended 83 feet. The height of 
the wings, to the top of the balustrade, 
was 69 feet and 6 inches ; to the top of 
the old dome, 145 feet. Actual meas- 
urenjent shows the width of the present 
rotunda, which was not altered by Walter 
in his elevation of the dome, to be 97 
feet 8 inches. The cost of the center building from April 20, 1818, to May 2, 
1828, is placed in the estimates of the Treasury Department at $1,108,904.43. 
The old Capitol covered 67,2:^20 square feet of ground; and its parking 
contained 22^2 acres. In the old days, the park was enjoyed to the fullest 
extent bv the public. Croquet grounds were iiiarked off for the pleasure of 
those Avho li^ed near the Capitol j and Tuitil the commencement of the new 
terrace, the grounds were yearly the scene of much merriment on Easter, when 
the sodded embankments were giVen up to children for egg- rolling. The 
parking was enclosed until about 1874 by an iron fence except where the 
nine gates — two for carriages both north and south, two for pedestrians on 
the east and three for them on tlie west — opened to the walks and drives. 
Portions of the original fence iind gates are still to be seen about the 
grounds of the Smithsonian Institution. They recall to the older inhabitants 
of the District the watchman's crjy about nine o'clock, p.m., from the east 
front of the building: "Close the gates!" The driveway gates were lot 
locked until much later than those to the walks. Congressmen, delaved 
at the Capitol, were often seen to pick up a convenient stone and brer'; -i 
lock rather than seek peaceful exit. 




MARBLE EXTENSIONS 

Not many years elapsed before it became evident that the Capitol was not 
sufficiently commodious to meet the purposes for which it had been built, and 
that even the masterly forethought of George Washington regarding Congress 
House had failed to realize the demands soon to be made upon its capacity 
by increase of population, the admission of new States and the acquisition 
of vast territory. 

As early as 1843, the Senate concurred in a House resolution providing 

" That the Secretary of War be requested to cause a plan and estimates to be 

prepared at the Topographical Bureau, or otherwise within his Department, 

and laid before Congress at its next session, for a room or apartment in the 



ft. 




THE CAPITOL, 1850 




52 



The National Capitol 



Capitol, or to be added thereto, for rhe better accommodation of tlie sittings 
of tlie House of Representatives." Colonel Abert and Lieutenant Hum- 
phries, of the Topographical Bureau, and William Strickland, the architect, 

accordingly prepared a plan for the en- 
largement of the building by means of a 
south wing extending 103^2 feet and hav- 
ing a breadth of 1525-2 feet. No further 
action, however, was taken by Congress 
at the time. 

On ]May i, 1850, in reply to a letter 
from Jefferson Davis, then a member of 
the Senate Committee on Public Build- 
ings, architect Robert Mills submitted a 
report, drawings and estimates for the 
extension of the Capitol by means of two 
wings and for the enlargement of the 
dome. The idea of two wings seems bet- 
ter to have met the views of the Senate. 
On the 2Sth of the same month, Chairman 
R. M. T. Hunter reported a plan which, 
though suggested by the work of the Top- 
ographical Bureau, had been materially 
altered by Mills ; and on the 19th of the 
following September, when the civil and 
diplomatic appropriation bill was before 
the Senate, Mr. Davis offered an amend- 
ment, which was adopted, providing for 
the enlargement of the Capitol according 
to plans to be agreed upon by a joint 
committee of both Houses, and for the 
payment of $100,000 for each wing. The 
money was to be expended under the di- 
rection of the President, who was au- 
thorized to appoint an architect to carry 
out whatever plans were adopted. The 
House cut down this appropriation one-half; and otherwise modified the 
language, so that the act, approved September 30, 1850, left to the President 
the approval of the plans as well as the appointment of the architect. This 
indicates that they had not the same preference for Mills which Davis 
enjoyed; and following the advertisement for and submission of plans, those 
of T. V. Walter of Philadelphia, the architect of the Girard College, were 
accepted by President Fillmore. Walter proposed white marble as the 




The National Capitol 53 

building material; and that it might not be out of harmony with the main 
structure, he advised painting the freestone of the old building to match, or 
even facing it with marble. He was appointed architect in the early part of 
1 85 1, and his designs were formally approved by the President in June of that 
year. In the construction of the extensions, as well as of the dome, General 
Montgomery C. Meigs, then Captain of Engineers, and W. B. Franklin, 
Captain of Topographical Engineers, also rendered valuable service. 

Laying- of the Corner-stone. — The following account of the laying of 
the corner-stone of the extensions, July 4, 185 1, is taken from the National 
Intelligencer of the 7th : 

The National anniversary was, in its important incidents, the fineness of the weather, 
and its freedom from all untoward occurrences, perhaps the most interesting and agreeable 
ever enjoyed in this capital. 

The day was ushered in by salutes of artillery from different points of the city, and, as 
the glorious sun gilded our tallest spires, and shed a lustre on the dome of the Capitol, it 
was welcomed by a display of National Flags and the ringing of bells from the various 
churches and engine houses. Thousands of visitors from Georgetown, Alexandria, Prince 
George's, Montgomery, Virginia, and Baltimore poured in by every kind of conveyance. A 
very large proportion of these hastened to the Capitol, in hopes to secure an eligible place 
from which to hear Mr. Webster's speech ; others again pressed their way to the City Hall, 
to witness the first moving of the procession. 

In the large Council Chamber of the City Hall were assembled the President of the 
United States, the Members of the Cabinet, Officers of the Army and Navy in full uniform, 
the Mayor and Members of the Corporation, and various civil officers. 

At the appointed hour the various bodies were drawn into line. The first division 
of the procession was for the most part of visiting and local military companies. The 
array of officers of the Army and Navy was one of the most imposing features of the 
pageant, including amongst them 30 or 40 brave veterans with the Commander-in-Chief 
Scott at the head of the Military Division, and Commodore Morris at the head of the 
Naval, all in full uniform ; Officers of the several States and Territories ; officers and sol- 
diers of the Revolution ; and officers and soldiers of the War of 1812. 

Then came the Civic Procession, composing the second, third, fourth, and fifth divi- 
sions of the program : 

The second division was under Dr. William B. Magruder, as Marshal, and was 
arranged in the following order : 

Persons present at the laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol in 1793. 

The President of the United States and Mayor of the City. 

Heads of Departments. 

Cabinet Members of former Administrations. 

Committees of Public Buildings of the Senate and House of Representatives, Architect of 

Capitol, Commissioner of Public Buildings. 

Heads of Bureaus. 

Judges of the United States Courts. 

Judges of the State Courts. 

, Chaplains of the 31st Congress, 



54 The National Capitol 

The Reverend Clergy of the District. 
Delegations from States and Territories. 

Washington Monument Society. 

Members of the Smithsonian Institution. 

Members of National Institute. 

Ex-Mayors of the Cit)^ of Washington. 

The Corporate authorities of Alexandria, Georgetown and Washington. 

Members of the Society of Cincinnati. 

The third division consisted of the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, who were 
attired in the regalia of the Order, bearing its various emblems, and forming a distinct 
feature in the pageant. Then followed the order of the Sons of Temperance, including 
their grand and subordinate divisions, with banners, etc., as before described. 

In about 30 minutes, the Procession entered the North gate of the Capitol grounds, 
and were drawn up in order around the excavation for the Cornerstone. The President of 
the United States, attended by Walter Lenox, Esq., Mayor of the City of Washington; 
the Pleads of Departments ; the Officers of the Army and Navy ; George Washington Parke 
Custis, Esq. ; the Reverend Clergy ; the Masonic Order ; and as many others as the lim- 
ited space would accommodate, occupied the site of the contemplated edifice. 

After a salutatory by the Marine Band, and order being proclaimed, the Rev. C. M. 
Butler, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, and Chaplain of the Senate, opened the ceremo- 
nies with fervent and impressive prayer. 

Thomas U. Walter, architect of the new building, then took a survey of the stone and 
deposited therein a glass jar, hermetically sealed, which contained a variety of valuable his- 
torical parchments, the coins of the United States, a copy of the Oration to be delivered by 
the Secretary of State, newspapers of the day, and other memorials. 

The Corner-stone of the new Capitol edifice was then, with great dignity and solemnity 
laid by Millard Fillmore, President of the United States, after which he gave way to the 
Masonic Fraternity.* Then services were opened with an excellent prayer by the Grand 
Chaplain, the R^v. Charles A. Davis. The "corn of nourishment, the wine of refresh- 
ment, and the oil of joy," were severally deposited according to the peculiar observances 
of the fraternity, viz. : 

The Grand Master examined the stone, applied the Square, level and plumb, and pro- 
nounced it properly formed, and of the suitable material for the purpose for which it was 
intended. He then placed upon it the corn, wine, and oil, saying as he did so, " May the 
all bountiful Creator bless the people of this nation, grant to them all the necessaries, con- 
veniences, and comforts of life ; assist in the erection and completion of this edifice, pre- 
serve the workmen from any accident, and bestow upon us all the corn of nourishment, the 
wine of refreshment, and the oil of J03-." He then said, " with this gavel, which was used 
by the immortal Washington, at the laying of the corner-stone of that Capitol, and clothed 
with the same apron that he then wore, I now pronounce this corner-stone of this extension 
of that Capitol, well laid, true, and trusty," accompanying the last words with three blows 
of the gavel. He then presented to T. U. Walter, Esq., the Architect, the working tools, 
being the square, level, and plumb, accompanying the presentation with the following re- 
marks : 

" j\Ir. Architect : I now, with pleasure, present to you these working tools of your own 
profession — the square, the level, and the plumb. We, as speculative masons, use them 
symbolically ; you as an accomplished architect, well know their use practically, and may the 



* Matthew G. Emor}', ex-Mayor of the City of Washington, who built the basement 
stories of the extensions, furnished all the granite and delivered the white marble for the 
wings, laid the corner-stone in preparation for the ceremony. 



The National Capitol 55 

noble edifice, here to be erected, under your charge, arise in its beautiful proportions, to 
completion, in conformity with all your wishes, and may your life and health be long con- 
tinued, and may you see the work go on,.and the cap-stone laid under circumstances as aus- 
picious and as happy as those under which the corner-stone, is this day laid." 

The line of the procession and the mighty multitude now changed positions nearer to 
the front of the stand from whence the addresses were to be delivered. Accompanied by 
the marshals of the day, the President and his escort, with the distinguished individuals 
already referred to, were conducted to seats upon the lofty platform. 

B. B. French, Esq., Grand Master of the Masons, then appeared in front (preceding 
Mr. Webster at his request), and delivered the opening address. 

Mr. Webster then rose from a chair next to President Fillmore and approached the 
front of the stand. He was welcomed by the hearty cheers of the multitude, and proceeded 
to read the address which he had prepared, a copy of which had been deposited in the 
corner-stone. He did not, however, confine himself to the manuscript, but occasionally 
extemporised new thoughts and other highly interesting reflections which together with the 
reading, occupied nearly two hours. 

The conclusion of these important ceremonies was announced by a salute of artillery 
from the public reservation at the north end of the Capitol and the military and civic asso- 
ciations returned in excellent order to their respective places of rendezvous where they were 
dismissed. 

The glorious day closed with a display of fire-works from the Mall south of the Presi- 
dent's house. 

Webster's oration was one of the most eloquent and comprehensive in his 
career. It was listened to by a large assemblage of people, who filled the eastern 
plaza before the Capitol, a much smaller amphitheater, however, than that to 
the east of the building at the present time. In the course of his address he 
called attention to the following account of the proceedings of the day, 
which, in his own handwriting, had been deposited within the corner-stone : 

" On the morning of the first day of the seventy-sixth year of the independence of the 
United States of America, in the city of Washington, being the fourth day of July, 185 1, 
this stone, designated as the corner-stone of the extension of the Capitol, according to a 
plan approved by the President, in pursuance of an act of Congress, was laid by Millard \l 
Fillmore, President of the United States, assisted by the Grand Master of the Masonic 
Lodges, in the presence of many members of Congress ; of officers of the executive and 
judiciary departments, national, state and district ; of the officers of the Army and Navy ; 
the corporate authorities of this and neighboring cities ; many associations, civil, military 
and masonic ; officers of the Smithsonian Institution, and National Institute ; professors of 
colleges and teachers of schools of the District of Columbia with their students and pupils ; 
and a vast concourse of people from places near and remote, including a few surviving 
gentlemen who witnessed the laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol by President Wash- 
ington, on the 1 8th day of September, 1793. 

" If, therefore, it shall hereafter be the will of God that this structure shall fall from its 
base, that its foundations be up-turned, and this deposit brought to the eyes of men, be it 
known that, on this day, the Union of the United States of America stands firm ; that their 
constitution still exists unimpaired, and with all its original usefulness and glory, growing 
every day stronger and stronger in the affections of the great body of the American people, 
and attracting more and more the admiration of the world. 



56 



The National Capitol 



"And ail here assembled, whether belonging to public or private life, with hearts 
de>-outly thankful to Almighty God, for the preservation of the liberty and happiness of 
the country, unite in sincere and fervent prayers that this deposit and the wiUls and arches, 
the domes and towers, the columns and entablatures, now to be erectevi over it, may endure 
forever ! God sa%-e the United States of America ! 

Daniel Wkestek, 







Consstruction. — Great difficulty \ras experienced in the building of the 
foundations, especially at the northwest comer of the Senate wing, where 
the soil was ver\' sandy. At that point, the walls were sunk forty feet below the 

surface before firni strata could W found. 
In the fall of 1S54, the walls of the House 
and Senate were up to the ceiling; but 
thevwere not covered in with the metal- 
lic and glass rooting until 1856. The 
wings were pmctically complete in tS6i. 
The east portico of the north wing was 
finished in November, 1S64. 

The walls of the beautiful extensions 
are of white marble from the quarries at 
Lee. Massachusetts, and are not inhar- 
monious with the>\-alls of the old build- 
ing, which are of yellowish freestone, 
jxiinted white. Fifty Corinthian marble 
columns from quarries at Cockeysville, 
Marv'land, are distributed about the ex- 
terior of each new wing and its con- 
necting corridor. The shafts are tluted 
monoliths, and the capitals and pedes- 
tals also are carved of solid slabs of 
marble. Each column weighs 33 tons, 
and cost the United States, when in po- 
sition, $1,550. The first column was erected on the House wing in Novem- 
ber, i860 : the last, which was on the Senate wing, was not raised to its place 
until 1S65. The architraves, entablatures, ornamented pediments, cornices 
and portico-ceiling-s are composed of massive blocks of marble, in some in- 
stances finely carved. Along the west side of each extension run porticoes 105 
feet S inches in length, projecting 10 feet 6 inches from the wall. Like 
porticoes extend along the north end of the north wing and the south end of 
the south wing; while double porticoes are formed in each instance to the 
east. Suit.able porte-cocheres beneath the three tlights of steps leading to the 
eastern entrances protect carriage visitors from inclement weather. 




The National Capitol 59 

The style of architecture of the old Capitol, which, from the first, was of 
the Corinthian order, has been carefully preserved by Walter. Each marble 
wing is 142 feet 8 inches in length on the east front, by 238 feet 10 inches in 
depth, exclusive of porticoes and steps. The greatest depth, including the 
porticoes and steps, is 348 feet 6 inches. Each wing is connected with the old 
building by a north and south corridor 44 feet in length by 56 feet 8 inches in 
width, enriched by Corinthian columns similar to those on the wings them- 
selves. These marble extensions have increased the length of the Capitol to 
751 feet 4 inches. It covers an area of 153,112 square feet. The official 
tabulation gives ^8,075,299.04 as the net expenditures by the government 
upon the extensions. 

Occupancy Iby Cong-ress. — The House met for the first time in the new 
Hall of Representatives in the south extension at twelve o'clock, December 
16, 1857. The new Senate Chamber was not ready for occupancy for more than 
a year later, January 4, 1859, when the Senate moved from its old chamber, 
now devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States. Despite the bad 
weather and bad walking, for there were no street cars in Washington in those 
days, the Capitol was filled to overflowing with people desiring to see the 
ceremony of the removal of the Senate and its initial sitting in the new 
hall. The eagerness to be present at the exercises was so great that M». Stuart 
moved to admit ladies to the floor, which motion, however, was defeated 
through the objection of Mr. Hamlin. 

The report of the committee was first read by the Secretary. It stated 
that the new chamber was ready for occupancy, and that the seats had been 
arranged according to the plan presented with the report and the rooms 
assigned. The galleries to the left of the President were reserved for ladies 
accompanied by gentlemen, and those to the right for gentlemen alone. The 
central portion above the President's chair — except the front desk, which 
was set apart for reporters of the Senate — was allotted to such reporters of the 
press as might be admitted thereto by the authority of that body. Mr. 
Crittenden moved the adoption of the report in an informal speech full of 
feeling at the thought of leaving the historic chamber. He was followed by 
the Vice-President, John C. Breckenridge, in a more elaborate and eloquent 
speech in the same vein. The Senators, preceded by the Vice-President, the 
Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms, then marched to the new chamber and took 
the seats assigned them, whereupon the Vice-President called the body to 
order. After the Rev. P. D. Gurley, D.D., had offered prayer, the regular 
proceedings were resumed. 



THE DOME 

The marble extensions had not far progressed before it was strikingly 
apparent that they would dwarf and render out of proportion the central dome 
of the old Capitol. Then, too, the old dome had nearly caught afire when 
the Library burned in 1851, which was an additional reason for building a 
new one. The plans were prepared by architect Walter, and approved by the 
President. The old brick and wooden dome was torn away in 1855, and the 
present magnificent dome of iron, painted white to resemble the building, 
erected in its place. In this connection it is interesting to reflect upon the 
idea which Ruskin, the fastidious champion of pure architecture, suggests in 
his Lamp of Truth : "It may be perhaps permitted to me to assume that true 
architecture does not admit iron as a constructive material, and that such 
works as the cast-iron central spire of Rouen cathedral, or the iron rooms and 
pillars gf our railway stations, and of some of our churches, are not archi- 
tecture at all.'' 

There was not a day during the Civil war when the sound of the builder's 
hammer was not heard at the Capitol. Even when, in May, 1861, all work 
was ordered to be suspended, the contractors practically continued at their 
own expense to put in place the 1,300,000 pounds of iron castings then upon 
the ground. The outside of the spherical portion of the new dome was 
finished in 1863, though not until the next year was it painted and the scaf- 
folding removed. By the close of 1865, the wings and the interior of the 
dome were completed, and Walter's work was done. 

The height of the building from the base line on the west to the crest on 
the new dome is 307 feet 6 inches. Rising, as it does, 287 feet 6 inches 
above the base line on the east front, away from all surrounding buildings, it 
is more imposing to the eye than the somewhat similar domes of St. Peter's 
at Rome, 448 feet high, designed by Michael Angelo ; St. Paul's in London, 
365 feet in height, designed by Sir Christopher Wren ; or the dome of the 
Pantheon in Paris, which has a height of 258 feet. - There is no dome in 
Europe more graceful in its lines and proportions. 

Great engineering skill was required in the erectjon of the dome. The 
walls had to be trussed, bolted, girded and clamped in eveiy conceivable way 
to hold in position the immense superstructure. Even furnished with the 
figures, it is scarcely possible for the mind to appreciate its immense weight. 
Walter calculated its 8,909,200 pounds of cast and wrought iron as giving a 



The National Capitol 



6i 



pressure of 13,477 pounds to the square foot at the basement floor, and the 
supporting walls as capable of holding 755,280 pounds to the same area. The 
pressure upon the walls of the cellar floor, exclusive of the weight of the 
Goddess of Freedom, is estimated at 51,292,253 pounds. The dome is com- 
posed of two shells, one within the other, which expand and contract with the 
variations in temperature • between 
these the stairway winds in its as- _ _ 

cent. The greatest diameter at the F ] 

base is 135 feet 5 inches. The cost 
of the new dome is officially given 
at ^1,047,291.89. 

The thirty-six columns which 
surround the lower portion of the 
exterior represent the thirty-six 
States in the Union at the time it 
was designed. The thirteen col- 
umns which encircle the lantern 
above the tholus are emblematic of 
the thirteen original States. This 
lantern is 24 feet 4 inches in di- 
ameter and 50 feet in height. Its 
light notifies the surrounding coun- 
try for miles of a night session in 
either House. The American flag, 
floating from the staff above either 
chamber, is the signal by day of the 
session of the House beneath. Until 
late years, except during the sittings 
of Congress, no flag floated from the 
nation's Capitol. This oversight 
was first pointed out by Colonel 
Richard J. Bright, Sergeant-at- 

Arms of the Senate, through whose patriotic efforts the following clause was 
inserted in the sundry civil appropriation bill, approved August 18, 1894: 
" To provide flags for the east and west fronts of the centre of the Capitol, 
to be hoisted daily under the direction of the Capitol Police board, one hun- 
dred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary." Like provision has 
been made each year since. Out of respect for noted dead, the flags float at 
half-mast, and in a very few instances the Capitol has been partially draped in 
black. On gala days, flags wave in the breeze from staffs placed near the top 
of the dome, and a few years since, for a short time, arc lights with reflectors 
were there suspended for the purpose of more effectively lighting the park. 




62 The National Capitol 

Dome-Entrance and A^iew. — The narrow, tortuous stairway which 
leads to the dome rises from the circular vestibule before the entrance to the 
office of the Marshal of the Supreme Court. There are 365 steps in the ascen- 
sion, one for each day in the year. The bird's-eye view from either the lower 
or upper circular balcony which encompass the dome amply repays the climb. 
This is graphically described by Mr. Spofford in his Eminent and Represen- 
tative Men of Virginia and the District of Columbia : " Viewed from the 
vantage-ground of the capitol dome, or even the western portico, or more 
widely from the top of the Washington monument, the environs of Washing- 
ton present a landscape of rare beauty and varied effect. The near view 
includes the mass of the city, thickly covered with dwellings, stores, and 
shops, intersected by the two great arteries of Pennsylvania avenue, running 
to the treasur}^ and Maryland avenue, running westward to the Potomac. At 
frequent intervals through the perspective of roofs, rise the tall steeples of 
churches and the massive white marble edifices of the various government 
buildings. Turning westward, the bright, broad current of the Potomac — 
nearly a mile wide opposite the capitol — sweeps southward, while there comes 
in on the left, joining the main stream at Greenleaf's point (on which the 
government arsenal is situated), the deep current of the Anacostia, or eastern 
branch of the Potomac. To the south, on the heights beyond the eastern 
branch, is seen the long mass of the government insane asylum buildings. On 
the Virginia shore rises a long forest-clad range of hills, amid which may be 
discerned Arlington heights, with its pillared edifice erected by George 
Washington Parke Custis, now occupied by the government, and its National 
cemetery or city of the dead, where 15,000 Union soldiers are interred; 
while the spire of Fairfax seminary, six miles distant, rises above the horizon 
in the direction of Alexandria. The latter little city, with its houses, churches, 
and shipping lying along the harbor, is clearly visible, and the river is at 
almost all seasons dotted with the sails of river craft and with steamers ply- 
ing up and down. To the northwest,. over the roofs of the executive mansion 
and the new state department, rise the lofty and picturesque heights of 
Georgetown, attaining at the adjoining village of Tenallytown, just outside 
the borders of the District of Columbia, a height of some 400 feet above 
the level of the sea. To the north are seen the buildings of Howard uni- 
versity, crowning Seventh street hill, and beyond the towers of the Soldiers' 
home, a free refuge for the disabled soldiers of the army, comprising a beau- 
tiful park of 740 acres in extent. It was this delightful and comprehensive 
view which drew from Baron von Humboldt the remark, as he stood on the 
western crest of Capitol hill and sur\-eyed the scene, ' I have not seen a more 
charming panorama in all mv travels.' " v 

How different the spirit with which Dickens described the same scene 
after beholding it, in 1842 : " It is sometimes called the City of Magnificent 



The National Capitol 63 

Distances, but it might with greater propriety be termed the City of Magnifi- 
cent Intentions ; for it is only on taking a bird's-eye view of it from the top 
of the Capitol, that one can at all comprehend the vast designs of its projec- 
tor, an aspiring Frenchman. Spacious avenues, that begin in nothing, and 
lead nowhere ; streets, mile-long, that only want houses, roads, and inhabi- 
tants ; public buildings that need but a public to be complete ; and ornaments 
of great thoroughfares, which only lack great thoroughfares to ornament, — are 
its leading" features ... a monument raised to a deceased project, with 
not even a legible inscription to record its departed greatness. Such as it 
is, it is likely to remain." 

We can imagine Mark Twain about 1874, quite out of breath after strug- 
gling up the long flight of steps to the dome, contemplating with pitiful eyes 
his poor fellow mortals beneath. " Now your general glance," he drawls 
humorously, " gives you picturesque stretches of gleaming water, on your left, 
with a sail here and there and a lunatic asylum on shore; over beyond the 
water, on a distant elevation, you see a squat and yellow temple which your 
eye dwells upon lovingly through a blur of unmanly moisture, for it recalls 
your lost boyhood and the Parthenons done in molasses candy which made it 
blessed and beautiful. Still in the distance, but on this side of the water 
and close to its edge, the Monument to the Father of his Country towers out 
of the mud — sacred soil is the customary term. It has the aspect of a factory 
chimney with the top broken off. The skeleton of a decaying scaffolding 
lingers about its summit, and tradition says that the spirit of Washington often 
comes down and sits on those rafters to enjoy this tribute of respect which the 
nation has reared as the symbol of its unappeasable gratitude. The Monu- 
ment is to be finished, some day, and at that time our Washington will have 
risen still higher in the nation's veneration, and will be known as the Great- 
Great-Grandfather of his Country. The memorial Chimney stands in a quiet 
pastoral locality that is full of reposeful expression. With a glass you can 
see the cow-sheds about its base, and the contented sheep nibbling pebbles in 
the desert solitudes that surround it, and the tired pigs dozing in the holy 
calm of its protecting shadow. 

" Now you wrench your gaze loose and you look down in front of you and 
see the broad Pennsylvania Avenue stretching straight ahead for a mile or 
more till it brings up against the iron fence in front of a pillared granite pile, 
the Treasury building — an edifice that would command respect in any capital. 
The stores and hotels that wall in this broad avenue are mean, and cheap, and 
dingy, and are better left without comment. Beyond the Treasury is a fine 
large white barn, with wide unhandsome grounds about it. The President lives 
there. It is ugly enough outside, but that is nothing to what it is inside. 
Dreariness, flimsiness, bad taste reduced to mathematical completeness is what 
the inside offers to the eye, if it remains yet what it always has been. 



64 



The National Capitol 



" The front and right hand vie\\-s give you the city at large. It is a wide 
stretch of cheap little brick houses, with here and there a noble architectural 
pile lifting itself out of the midst — government buildings, these. If the 
thaw is still going on when you come down and go about town, vou will won- 
der at the short-sightedness of the city fathers, when you come to inspect the 
streets, in that they do not dilute the mud a little more and use them for 
canals." 

The Goddess of Freedom. — The huge bronze — variously called " The 
Goddess of Freedom," "The Goddess of Liberty" and "The Indian God- 
dess" — which to-day rests upon the great dome-pedestal, for some years 

awaited its destination in the lawn 
southeast of the building. Two weeks 
were consumed in raising it to its present 
position. It had first been oxidated by 
an acid solution to produce a rich and 
uniform tint which, it was thought, 
would never change underexposure.; As 
the head and shoulders, which were the 
fifth and crowning section of the figure, 
were placed in position, at noon on the 
2d of December, 1S63, a flag was waved 
from the top of the dome and the field 
batter}' in the grounds, thirty-five guns, 
fired the national salute. This was 
answered successively by the gims of 
the forts then guarding the District of 
Columbia, and by the patriotic cheers 
of the multitude, who had gathered to 
see the statue of Freedom — the emblem 
of a principle which was even then the 
contention of two mighty armies — raised 
upon the dome. 
The statue, which faces to the east, was designed by Thomas Crawford, 
the father of the novelist, F. jNIarion Crawford, in Rome in 1855 ; and cast 
in the foundry of Clark Mills, near Bladensburg, in the District of Colum- 
bia^ The original model of the sculptor in plaster had a liberty cap jewelled 
with a circlet of stars. In October, 1855, Crawford writes to Captain Meigs : 
" It is quite possible that Mr. Jefferson Davis may, c7s upon a fornu-r occa- 
sion, object to the cap of Liberty and the fasces. I can only say in reply that 
the work is for the people, and they must be addressed in language they under- 
stand, and which has become unalterable for the masses. 

" The emblems I allude to can never be replaced 4?y any invention of the 




THE GODDESS OF FREEDOM 
{Craiv/ord's original model) 



Tlif: Narional Capitol 65 

artist; all that can be rjonc- is to add to them, as I have done, by placing the 
circlet of stars arounrl the cap of liberty : it thus becomes more picturesque, 
and nolhin;^ of its generally understood signification is lost. All arguments, 
however, must reduce themselves into the question : ' Will the people under- 
stanrl it ? ' I, therefore, hope the Secretary will allow the emblems to * pass 
muster.' 

" 1 have said the statue represents ' armed Liberty.' She rests upon the 
shield of our country, the triumph of which is made apparent by the wreath 
held in the same hand which grasps the shield ; in her right hand she holds 
the sheathed sword, to show the fight is over for the present, but ready for use 
whenever required. The stars upon her brow indicate her heavenly origin; 
her position nj^on the globe represents her protection of the American world 
— the justice of whose cause is made apparent by the emblems supporting it." 
[/ The present helmet, surmounted by a crest of eagle plumes, was adopted 
after considerable correspondence between the Secretary, Captain Meigs and 
the artist. On March 18, 1856, Crawford writes : " I read with much pleas- 
ure the letter* of the honorable Secretary, and his remarks have induced me 
to dispense with the ' cap ' and put in its place a helmet, the crest of which 
is composed of an eagle's head and a bold arrangement of feathers, suggested 
by the costume of our Indian tribes." The Secretary's objections to the cap 

* War Department, 
Washington, y^w. 15, 1856. 
Cai'T. M. C. Mkios, in charge of Capitol Extension, Washington City : 

Sir : 'I'he second photograph of the statue with which it is proposed to crown the 
dome of tiie Capitol, impresses me most favorably. Its general grace and power, striking 
at first view, has grown on me as I studied its details. 

As to the cap, I can only say, without intending to press the objection formerly made, 
that it seems to me its history renders it inappropriate to a people who were born free and 
would not be enslaved. 

The language of art, like all living tongues, is subject to change ; thus the bundle of 
rods, if no longer employed to suggest the functions of the Roman Lictor, may lose the 
symbolic character derived therefrom, and be confined to the single signification drawn 
from its other source — the fable teaching the instructive lesson that in union there is strength. 
15ut the liberty cap has an established origin in its use, as the badge of the freed slave ; and 
though it should have another emblematic meaning to-day, a recurrence to that origin may 
give to it in the future the .same popular acceptation which it had in the past. 

Why should not armed Liberty wear a helmet ? Her conflict being over, her cause tri- 
umphant, as shown by the other emblems of the statue, the visor would be up so as to per- 
mit, as in the photograph, the display of a circle of stars, expressive of endless existence 
and of heavenly birth. With these remarks I leave the matter to the judgment of Mr. 
Crawford ; and I need hardly say to you,' who know my very high appreciation of him, that 
I certainly would not venture, on a question of art, to array my opinion against his. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Jefferson Davis, 

Secretary of War. 

5 



66 The National Capitol 

were that it was the Roman badge of emancipation and inappropriate to a 
free-born people. It has been often asserted that he saw in it a fanciful 
menace to the South and her institution of slavery. 

The right hand of the figure rests upon the hilt of a_s,heathed sword_;_her^ 
left holds an olive branch, while resting upon a shield. \At the waistj abroad 
bearing the letters " U. S." holds the drapery in place.- The statue weighs 
nearly 15,000 pounds, the weight of the heaviest of the five sections being 
4,740 pounds, and is ig}^ feet in height. Crawford received ^3,000 for the 
plaster model; Mills, ^9,800 for casting it in bronze ; and ^10,996. 82 were 
paid for labor, iron-work and copper. 

It is perhaps well for the statue^hat its position, while most imposing, 
places it beyond the critical vision of even those who most highly appreciate 
Crawford's art. It- is unfortunately now neither ancient nor modern, classic 
nor American. Under several equally inappropriate titles the public, with 
careless indifference, have come to idealize a mongrel statue which would 
have possessed more merit and appropriateness, had not politics, as is, too 
often the case in America, contaminated art. It has been proposed to gild 
the statue. This would but make more glaring its imperfections. 



THE TERRACE 

Even after the erection of the grand marble wings and the elevation of 
the dome, the Capitol, except on the eastern front, had an unfinished appear- 
ance despite the sodded embankment which formed the old terrace, especially- 
devised by Bulfinch. This was well described by Watterston in 1842 : " Pro- 
ceeding through th^ western entrance of the Capitol you reach a spacious 
terrace, paved with Seneca freestone, and extending in a very beautiful sweep, 
from north to south. Beneath this terrace,' which is below the level of the 
east front, is a range of casemate arches, forming depositories for the wood 
and coal annually consumed in the building. The terrace is faced with a 
grass bank or glacis, and accessible by two flights of stone steps on either 
side of the open arches leading to the basement story of the Capitol. Under 
the middle of these is a handsome marble fountain, from which the water, 
brought through pipes from springs about two miles north of the Capitol, falls 
into a beautiful basin of white marble, and thence flows into a reservoir cased 
with stone, and in which has been erected a monument [now at Annapolis] to 
the memory of young naval officers, Somers, Wadsworth, Israel, Decatur, 
Dorsey, and Caldwell, who gallantly perished off Tripoli, in 1804. It is a 
Doric pillar, with emblematic embellishments, etc., crowned with an eagle 
in the act of flying. The column ornamented with the prows of Turkish ves- 
sels, rests on a base, on one side of which is sculptured in basso relievo a view 
of Tripoli and its fortresses in the distance, the Mediterranean and American 
fleet in the foreground. The whole monument is of Italian marble, and its 
sub-base of American marble, found near Baltimore. 

" Further west is another fall or glacis, with stone steps, from the bottom 
of which three fine walks, paved with granite, lead to the principal western 
gates, one in the centre, one opening into the Maryland, and the other into 
Pennsylvania Avenue. On each side of the centre gateway are porters' lodges, 
which, with the stone piers to the gates, are constructed in the same style as 
the basement of the building. The public grounds around the Capitol are 
enclosed by an iron palisade or railing, bordered with a belt of forest and 
ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers, and laid out into walks neatly gravelled, 
and also planted with fine trees. On each side of the centre walk are two 
small jets d^eau, supplied with water from the reservoir above. A brick 
pavement extends along the wall, on the outside, upwards of a mile in length, 



6S 



The National Capitol 








THE NAVAL MONUMENT 

and the square or public grounds form, in fine weather, one of the most beau- 
tiful promenades in this country." 

The present terrace, which greatly enhances the beauty of the building, 
was designed by, and constructed under the direction of, Edward Clark, the 
present distinguished architect of the Capitol. Clark was first initiated into 
office as the assistant of Walter, the architect of the extensions, and assumed 
his present position after the completion of the marble wings and the new 
dome, upon which his best energies and talents had been displayed in second- 
ing Walter's plans. 



The National Capitol 69 

The approaches were begun in 1882 ; the terrace itself was not commenced 
until two years later, nor finished until 1891, 'j'his grand esplanade, which 
extends along the entire north, south and west fronts of the Capitol, is built 
principally of Vermont marble. The large interior space secured to the build- 
ing by means of this addition is occu[)ied by electric plants and the fur- 
naces and engines which heat the building, and by committee rooms and those 
devoted to the use of the custodian of art. The total cost of the terrace to 
the government has been about ^750,000. The cost of the Capitol up to June 
30, 1883, is estimated at 1515,599,656, of which ^703,455.80 is officially given 
as the cost of repairs upon the building from March 2, 1827, to March 3, 1875. 

On summer evenings, when the heat drives the townsfolk horn their homes, 
there is no more popular resort than the terrace-promenade. The gay summer 
dresses, and the chatter of the voices of the merry throng upon the steps and 
along the balustrade, counting the stars or ga/Jng languidly down the long line 
of lights that mark the avenues and streets of the heatetl city, form quite an 
Italian picture. In hushed moments, the idler's ear catches rippling laughter 
from the shadow of some column, bespeaking the embrace stolen while a 
friendly cloud masks the moon. How to scholars the scene recalls Horace's 
drinking song for winter, in imitation of an ode from Alcceus ; for there the 
Roman poet in. imagination invokes the ])leasures of Youth, the camp and the 
promenade, and the enticing laughter of the maid coyly crouching in a corner 
or angle of the street or near houses of an evening in Rome, some two thou- 
sand years ago ! The world has not so much changed ; for modern fancy 
whispers : 

iThe night is still ; come wander, dear, 

Along an old familiar way ; 
Mine arm about thee, once more hear 

The old familiar lover's lay. 

See, sweet, the moonbeams kiss the dome — 

The great white dome, the peoples' shrine ; 
Along the esplanade we'll roam, — 

'Twas there you promised to he mine. 

See how the clouds throughout the west 

Still fond embrace each fleetiiig ray ; 
So to my heart with man's poor zest 

I clutch thy heart ; it is my day. 

See, love, the city careless sleeps, 

Nor knows thy heart's the richest mine. 
Where Fortune's delver proudly reaps 

Bright golden hours of joy divine. 



70 The National Capitol 

Sco yoiidcr, love, the ivy tiiiio;s 

I Into ;i bird-nest balcony, — 
TIkuicc ['"alloy's weddintj bell first rings, — 

A clear old sjiot for yon and nie. 

C\)me back, ei>ine baek, my own sweetheart ; 

Along- the terrace this night stray ; 
We'll play at love with youthful art. 

Ami live again ile[)arted (.lay. 

The night is soft, the night is fair, — 

Come wander there once more with me ; 
Oh, great dome-shadows be the lair, 

For love-kiss as ye used to be 1 

No Autumn cools the blood to-night, — 

Kt)salia's veins are May again ; 
Let heart thrill heart in pulse-born fright, 

Love madly as you loved me then. 

On nights when the moon is full and the great dome and columns are 
silvered by its rays, the whole j^ile appears like a caiiieo cut in the sky. The 
terrace is then a place of enchantment, and the night-visitor exclaims with 
Tom Moore : 

" Now look, my friend, where faint the moonlight falls 
On yonder dome, and in those princely halls." 

.\nother occasion when the Capitol rises in dignity almost sublime is in 
the midst of a great storm. To see the lightnings cleave the clouds and play 
harmlessly upon the iron donie, is a sight to dwell in memory forever. The 
sunsets, too, from the western steps, are unsurpassed in beauty, even in Venice. 

This terrace is the last touch upon the Capitol. The great pile to-day, 
although designed piece by piece imder the direction of various architects, 
has none of the patchwork appearance common to so many of the great build- 
ings of the world. From any one of the magnificent views to be had of the 
imposing structure, it presents the symnietry, unity and classic grace of a build- 
ing designed and executed by one master mind. It has grown as the nation 
has grown. The corner-stone was laid by Washington in 1793 ; the terrace was 
finished nearly a hundred years later, in 1891 ; and yet the Capitol will never 
be complete while the nation lasts. The impress of each succeeding genera- 
tion will be found upon its walls, marking the intellectual, artistic and gov- 
ernuumtal advancement of the age. The great pile is national, American, 
human. On its walls is written the nation's history. Its corridors resound 
to the footsteps of her living heroes and sages; its every stone echoes the 
departed voices of her greatest dead. 



The National Capitol 73 

Marshall's Statue — At the foot of the terrace, between the two main 
western stairways, is a bronze statue on whose base is inscribed : " John Mar- 
shall, Chief Justice of the United States. Erected by the Bar and the Con- 
gress of the United States, A.D. MDCCCLXXXIV." This admirable work 
is by the American poet-sculptor, W. W. Story, and was executed in Rome in 
1883. On the north side of the base is a basso-rilievo in white marble 
representing "Minerva Dictating the Constitution to Young America"; on 
the opposite side, " Victory Leading Young America to Swear Fidelity at the 
Altar of the Union." The statue reminds us of the recollections of Good- 
rich, who visited the city in the winter of 1819-20: "Among the judges 
were Marshall and Story, both of whom riveted my attention. The former 
was now sixty-four years old, and still in the full vigor of his career. He was 
tall and thin, with a small face, expressive of acuteness and amiability. His 
personal manner was entirely dignified, yet his brow did not seem to me to 
indicate the full force of his great abilities and lofty moral qualities. I saw 
him many times afterward, and learned to look with reverence upon him, as 
being the best representation of the era and spirit of Washington, which 
lingered amongst us." 



STORY S MARSHALL 



THE CAMPUS 

Greenoiig-h's Statue of Washing-ton. — On the eastern plaza, about 
five hundred feet from the Capitol, resting upon a low granite pedestal, is a 
colossal statue in marble of Washington, which has enjoyed a remarkable his- 
tory. The figure, scantily arrayed in the toga of a Roman senator, is repre- 
sented in a sitting posture. The left hand clasps a short sword, the right points 
towards heaven. This is the work of Horatio Greenough. 

" It is the birth of my thought," the artist writes. " I have sacrificed 
to it the flower of my days and the freshness of my strength; its every linea- 
ment has been moistened with the sweat of my toil and the tears of my exile. 
I would not barter away its association with my name for the proudest fortune 
avarice ever dreamed of. In giving it up to the nation that has done me the 
honor to order it at my hands, I respectfully claim for it that protection which 
it is the boast of civilization to afford to art, and which a generous enemy has 
more than once been seen to extend even to the monuments of his own defeat." 

Greenough must have had an attractive personality to call forth the fol- 
lowing praise from Emerson: "At Florence, chief among artists I found 
Horatio Greenough, the American sculptor. His face was so handsome, and 
his person so well formed, that he might be pardoned, if, as was alleged, the 
face of his Medora, and the figure of a colossal x'Vchilles in clay, were ideali- 
zations of his own. Greenough was a superior man, ardent and eloquent, and 
all his opinions had elevation and magnanimity. He was a votary of the 
Greeks, and impatient of Gothic art." 

On the base of the statue, also designed by Greenough, are inscribed words 
from General Henry Lee's oration before Congress, December i6, 1799, which 
were embodied as well in the resolution on the death of Washington, intro- 
duced into the House on the 19th by John Marshall, then a Representative 
from Virginia : " First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of his 
Countrymen." On the back of the Roman chair is the following Latin 
inscription : 

Simulacrum istud 

ad magnum Libertatis exemplum 

nee sine ipsa duraturum 

Horatius Greenough 

faciebat.* 

* Horatio Greenough made this statue as a grand example of Liberty nor without it 
would it endure. Simulacrum is generally used of a statue of a god ; therefore signum 



The National Capitol 



75 






The desire to honor Washington with a suitable statue was early manifest. 
On August 7, 1783, the Continental Congress resolved unanimously, ten States 
being present, that an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected at 
the place where the residence 
of Congress should be estab- 
lished. The resolution further 
specified that he be repre- 
sented " in a Roman dress, 
holding a truncheon in his 
right hand, and his head en- 
circled with a laurel wreath." 
This resolution was' never car- 
ried into effect. 

On the 1 8th of February, 
1832, the House of Repre- 
sentatives resolved " That the 
President of the United States 
be authorized to employ Ho- 
ratio Greenough, of Massa- 
chusetts, to execute, in mar- 
ble, a full length pedestrian 
statue of Washington, to 
be placed in the centre of 
the rotundo of the Capitol ; 
the head to be a copy 
of Houdon's Washington, 
and the accessories to be 
left to the judgment of 
the artist." The Secre- 
tary of State immediately 
addressed a letter of in- 
structions to Greenough for carrying the resolution into effect. The contract 
itself with the artist was made under the act of July 14th, which appropriated 
^5,000 "to enable the President of the United States to contract with a 
skilful artist to execute, in marble, a pedestrian statue of George Washington, 
to be placed in the centre of the rotundo of the Capitol." 

The question as to what constituted a pedestrian statue was popularly 
mooted at the time. The artist evidently disregarded the controversy, if he 

would be better. Fecit would be better Latin than faciebat ; while a decidedly preferable 
arrangement of words would be "ad exemplum Libertatis magnum nee sine ipsa dura- 
turum" — "great and not destined without it to endure." The one thing absolutely 
wrong, as it seems, is istud, which should be hoc. 




GREENOUGH S WASHINGTON 



^6 The National Capitol 

was at all aAvare of it, and followed the bent of his own desire; and the 
authorities themselves accepted without question the undraped Roman 
Washington enthroned in a chair of state in fulfilment of a contract which, 
as well as the act of September 9, 1841, making the final appropriation, 
expressly called for ^. pedestrian statue. 

The statue, which weighs nearly twenty-one tons, was chiseled in Florence. 
Upon its completion, the difficulty of bringing it safely to America arose ; 
and by a resolution passed May 27, 1840, the Secretary of the Navy was au- 
thorized to take immediate measures for its transportation and erection in the 
National Capitol. Commodore Hull was sent with a vessel of war to take it 
on board, but when he found it would be necessary to rip up her decks in 
order to place the cumbersome burden in the hold, he demurred. A merchant- 
man, the American ship Sea, Captain Delano, was then chartered for the 
purpose, her hatches enlarged, and the decks otherwise prepared to receive the 
huge marble. The passage was made in safety in spite of the danger from 
such an unwieldy cargo, and the statue was transferred to the Capitol without 
breaking, in 1841. The doors at the east front of the building were found, 
however, to be too small ; and the masonry had to be cut away before the 
marble finally reached its proposed resting place in the rotunda, at Green- 
ough's request, between its center and the door leading to the Library. 

" In this hall," writes Dickens in 1842, " Mr. Greenough's large statue of 
Washington has been lately placed. It has great merits of course, but it 
struck me as being rather strained and violent for its subject. I could wish, 
however, to have seen it in a better light than it can ever be viewed in where 
it stands." 

The effect of the statue generally was disappointing. It awakened the 
ridicule especially of the Congressional wits and connoisseurs ; and the Sen- 
ate in 1842 added an amendment, which was finally adopted, to the appropri- 
ation bill, providing $1,000 for its removal. When on May nth this clause 
came before the House, Mr. Keim of Pennsylvania moved to amend it by 
" an appropriation of $3,500 for the construction of a suitable pedestal to 
the statue, to be approved by the President and heads of Departments." 
This was the straw that broke the Congressional camel's back. The debate 
which ensued was highly amusing, and if not in the Globes, might require 
expurgation. 

Mr. Keim in support of his amendment said that, so far as the commit- 
tee were concerned, they were willing that " the statue should remain as it 
was, much like a Hindoo suttee, with a marble corpse on a funeral pile. The 
question was merely whether the statue of Washington should remain on a 
pedestal of yellow pine boards, covered over with coal dust, or be removed 
to a more appropriate place, and have a more suitable pedestal." Mr. Joseph 
R. Ingersoll observed that " the statue had been placed in the centre of the 



The National Capitol 77 

rotundo, in a spot which had been previously prepared to receive so great a 
weight, by the erection in the story below, of a mass of solid mason work 
reaching up to and supporting the floor of the apartment. The Secretary 
had given directions to the sculptor Pettrick to prepare the design of a suita- 
ble pedestal." 

After a few more words by Mr. Ingersoll, eulogistic of Pettrick, who was 
a pupil of Thorwaldsen, Mr. Wise inquired whether " the pedestal was not in 
strictness a part of the' statue and whether Mr. Greenough was not bound to 
complete it as such for the compensation already allowed him ? " He went on 
to say that, " to himself, it seemed something like Jewing the Government to 
send them an incomplete thing, and then claim to do the residue for a new 
compensation." He ridiculed the statue roundly, and said, in commenting 
upon its want of drapery, that " he must confess it had on him much the same 
effect it had on a gentleman of Maryland, one of the old school, who, having 
heard so much said of the statue, mounted his horse and rode a long distance 
purposely to look at it. Having hitched his horse before the Capitol he 
mounted the steps and entered the rotundo, where after looking at the statue 
for a few seconds, turned from it as he said the father of his country would 
do, who was the, most modest of men." 

After exhausting himself in ridiculing " the naked statue of George Wash- 
ington," Mr. Wise turned his attention to the inscription on the back, which 
he characterized as " bad Latin written in Italy." At Mr. Fillmore's inter- 
position, the chair here called Mr. Wise to order for irrelevancy, but he was 
not done with the Latin. He criticised the use of " the imperfect tense ' facie- 
bat ' for ' fecit ' " ; and went on to say that " a countryman entering the ro- 
tundo by the Library door, seeing the back of the statue, would very naturally 
ask, ' Who is this ? ' And looking at the inscription, would say to him.self, 
' Simul Acrum ! Who is Simul Acrum ? ' But the next word [istudj would 
tell him." The speaker further said that " he preferred seeing Washington 
as Houdon had represented him in the statue in the Capitol at Richmond, 
about which Persico, the sculptor, had told him this anecdote. When he had 
visited Richmond he had gone to see the statue. Now Persico, although an 
Italian, gesticulated with all the extravagance of a Frenchman; and as he 
stood looking at it in admiration of the beautiful head, expressed by gestures 
his abhorrence of the dress and figure, and his wish that the head could be cut 
off and preserved, while the rest was destroyed. A Virginia sentinel, who was 
always on guard in the space before the statue, seeing a foreigner making signs 
to show his wish to cut off Washington's head, verj' unceremoniously stepped 
up to him, saying : ' There's the door ! Begone ! ' So in regard to this statue 
of Greenough ; if the head could be preserved, he would vote to throw the 
body into the Potomac to hide it from the eyes of all the world, lest the world 
should think that that was the people's conception of their Nation's father." 



78 The National Capitol 

Not long after the appropriation for the removal had been made, Green- 
ough, convinced, as he says, that " the descent of the light upon the work is 
so nearly vertical as to throw all the lower portions of the face into shade, 
and to give a false and constrained effect to the whole monument," memori- 
alized Congress to remove the statue to the grounds in front of the western 
facade of the Capitol. The position recommended a few days later by the 
committee was " in the open green space in the eastern grounds, lying directly 
in front of the main entrance to the rotundo, and between the two gravelled 
shaded walks leading eastward from the Capitol through those grounds." 

In his memorial, Greenough takes occasion to answer his detractors for 
their criticisms of his statue on the score of nakedness : " When contempo- 
rary designs had portrayed Frederic the 2d with his huge walking stick, and 
his preposterous queue, when the sculptors of the age of Louis 14th had elabo- 
rately copied the redundant periwig, the cumbrous robes, and stilted shoes of 
that monarch, without doubt the assembled courts of France and of Prussia 
saw in these representations images as imposing as they were exact. What is 
the effect which they now produce ? Irresistible laughter. 

" In the celebrated group of Laocoon, that personage, though overtaken 
by the ministers of vengeance while officiating at the altar, is represented 
without his pontifical robes. He is naked. Though the Romans had not 
only a distinct national costume, but different dresses for the several orders in 
the state, yet the Senate, to record its veneration for Pompey, erected within 
its halls a naked statue of that champion. Though Napoleon gave what has 
to many seemed an undue attention to his imperial attire, and though the 
associations connected with his gray coat and his three-cornered hat always 
commanded the enthusiasm of the army, yet when Canova was called on to 
cross the Alps that he might give to posterity the image of the emperor it was 
without either the clap-trap of the palace, or the conventional sublime of the 
uniform, that he chose to appear before his successors. He was represented 
naked." 

" Your memorialist," continues Greenough, " having already outlived the 
sneer with which it was intended to crush his first effort to make a bust of a 
distinguished fellow-citizen 'without a shirt,' trusts that the prejudice which 
has yielded in these few years the neck and shoulders as objects not unfit to 
be looked upon, will continue to decline before the efforts of high art, until 
his successors in sculpture shall be enabled to show that the inspired writer 
meant not merely the face, when he declared that God had made man after his 
own image." 

The limitation of the contract regarding cost was as freely exceeded as 
its requirements in design. From 1832 to 1835 inclusive, four appropriations 
of ^5,000 each were voted by Congress to pay for the statue, and the act of 
1841, already referred to, provided ^15,100 more, or as much thereof as might 



The National Capitol 79 

be necessary. Thus far, this horseless " pedestrian" statue has cost the gov- 
ernment, including the amounts paid to the artist, for work and materials, the 
cost of transportation from Italy to the Navy Yard, from that place to the 
rotunda and thence to its present site, ^42,170.74. 

The ill-fated statue is artistic, but thoroughly inappropriate to the purposes 
for which it was executed, and thoroughly meaningless in design. The critic, 
however, must bear in mind the artist's point of view. " Had I been 
ordered," he writes, " to make a statue for any square or similar situation at 
the metropolis, I should have represented Washington on horseback, and in 
his actual dress. I would have made my work purely an historical one. I 
have treated the subject poetically and confess I should feel pain in seeing 
it placed in direct and flagrant contrast with every-day life. Moreover, I 
modelled the figure without reference to an exposure to rain and frost, so that 
there are many parts of the statue where the water would collect and soon 
disintegrate and rot the stone, if it did not by freezing split off large frag- 
ments of the drapery." To guard against this, the statue each winter is housed 
where it stands in a hideous frame structure which is an eye-sore to the Capi- 
tol. The modern suggestion of placing it in a pretty Greek temple, no 
doubt took rise in the artist's own suggestion at the time of the removal, to 
erect over it " such a shelter as, while it shall insure suitable protection and 
light for the statue, shall be, by its form, proportions, and material, harmoni- 
ous with the Capitol itself, and ornamental to the grounds. The building 
thus proposed, while it may be considered a mausoleum of Washington, will 
also afford a proper receptacle for such other busts and statues of historic inter- 
est as are at present entirely lost to the public." Who would dare to propose 
this to Congress to-day ? 

^Pfotable Events. — Wednesday evenings in the summer months, when 
the weather permits, the Marine Band plays on the eastern plaza for the 
education and enjoyment of the general public. This open campus has been 
the scene of nearly as much historic happening as the great pile itself. 

On the night of April 14, 1865, two horsemen might have been seen gal- 
loping wildly up New Jersey Avenue, crossing this hill towards the bridge to 
Anacostia and hastening on to Maryland. In their flight, they almost crossed 
the shadow of the dome, but a short distance from the spot where Lincoln 
twice took the oath of office as President. The one was John Wilkes Booth, 
the other, Harold, his accomplice. 

We recall a ghastly coincidence. The van which, during the long trial, 
carried Charles Guiteau from the jail to the court and return, daily took 
almost the same route along which Booth galloped that awful night, and 
equally within sight of the spot where Garfield became President. 

This campus was the objective point of Coxey's " Army of the Common- 
weal " in the year of our Lord, 1894. It was May Day, and the plaza was 



So The N:itIonal Capitol 

thronged with holiday-makers curious to look upon the so-called army. Its 
three or four hundred men, ragged, dirty, unsheltered and weary after their 
march of six hundred miles, had been scantily fed by the chimera held out 
to them by " General " Coxey, who proposed, from the steps of the Capitol, 
to deliver an oration petitioning Congress to issue immediately $500,000,000 
in paper money to be used in alleviating the sufferings of the workingmen 
throughout the country by employing them upon the public roads. The 
"army" was a curious spectacle, as heterogeneous as its contingent, the 
" Coxey Band," each member of which had devised some unique instrument 
of torture of his own, to say nothing of his individual tune. By the " Gen- 
eral's" side in a phaeton sat INIrs. Coxey, proudly holding in her arms their 
promising infant, " Legal Tender" Coxey. 

Congress and the city officials were so impressed with the dangerous aspect 
of the invasion, which the press had magnified for weeks, that squads of 
mounted police guarded the Capitol reservation. The '' army" reached the 
grounds about one o'clock. City policemen escorted the " General " through 
the dense crowd to the central eastern steps. Here he was within the 
jurisdiction of the Capitol police, who literally elbowed him, his manuscripts 
and " army " back into the jurisdiction of the city authorities. The " Gen- 
eral " after some oratorical remonstrance gave up the fight. Not so his 
lieutenants, " ^larshal " Carl Browne and Christopher Columbus Jones ! In 
their ardor for the good cause, these worthies unfortunately disregarded the 
law to '' Keep off the Grass," whereupon they were promptly surrounded by 
officers on horseback and arrested. An hour later, no trace of the contending 
forces was left upon the battle-field. 

In this connection it is interesting to notice that it is forbidden by act of 
Congress to " make any harangue or oration " within the Capitol grounds. It 
also is forbidden by the same act there " to parade, stand, or move in proces- 
ions or assemblages, or display any flag, banner, or device designed or adapted 
to bring into public notice any party, organization, or movement." Congress 
has placed it, however, within the power of the President of the Senate and 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, acting concurrently, to suspend 
on proper occasions the above prohibition. In the bitter campaign of the 
fall of 1896, permission Avas granted to William Jennings Bryan to speak 
from the eastern steps. Speaker Reed, though among the strongest political 
antagonists of the principles to be presented by the orator, generouslv united 
with the Vice-President in granting the permission. Mr. Bryan, however, 
finally abandoned his intention as likely to form a bad precedent. 

Inaiig'uratious. — From the central portico, once in four vears, a large 
platform is customarily erected, which holds in the neighborhood of 2,500 
persons. At the front of this wooden platform is placed a small raised pulpit, 
and there on the 4th of ]March, rain or shine, the President-elect is sworn into 



The National Capitol , 8i 

ofifice by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The 
crowd filling the space below, eager both to see the ceremony and listen to 
the inaugural, has been estimated often at over 100,000 persons. 

The first citizen who took the oath of office as I'resident out-of-doors, 
after the removal of the seat of government to Washington, was Janios 
Monroe, on March 4, 181 7. The National Intelligencer of the day before 
published a programme of the ceremonies, which were to have taken place in 
the hall occupied" by the Representatives, where the Senators were to enjoy the 
privilege of the front row of chairs and the Members find such accommodations 
as they could; but in its issue of the 4th, that paper said : " The committee 
of arrangements have been induced to alter the form of the ceremony, in- 
tended to have been observed at the inauguration of the 4th March, and the 
President elect will take the oath of office at 12 o'clock, in a Portico, to be 
erected in front of the Congress Hall for that purpose. The cause of this 
change of arrangement is principally ascribed, we believe, to fears of the 
strength of the building in which Congress sit, but in a degree also imputa- 
ble to a difference between the two Plouses, or their officers, in the mode of 
appropriation of the Representatives' Chamber to the purposes of this cere- 
mony." Congress was then sitting in the " Old Capitol " east of the grounds. 
Vice-President-elect Daniel D. Tompkins was sworn into office by Mr. Gail- 
lard, and delivered his address. The Senate then adjourned for an hour upon 
the motion of Mr. Barbour— Madison, Monroe and the justices of the Supreme 
Court having previously entered the chamber. The Senators and marshals of 
the day accompanied the presidential party to the portico, where the inau- 
gural was delivered and the oath of office administered by Chief Justice 
Marshall. 

John Quincy Adams took the oath of office on the central portico in 
1825, and it is said that Andrew Jackson, the unsuccessful candidate, was 
the first to take the President's hand after the ceremony. The Intelligencer 
tells us : " No less than four large eagles were seen poising themselves di- 
rectly over the Capitol for about ten minutes, when one of them, apparently 
larger than the rest, began to descend, and after making a number of circles 
around the centre dome arose in graceful spirals. Was their attention at- 
tracted by the immense concourse of people about the place, or was the par- 
ent eagle, which before made her appearance in almost the same place when 
our last venerable Chief Justice was conducted into office, now sent by our 
guardian spirit with her brood from their mountain eyry to augur continued 
and increased prosperity to our happy country ? " 

Four years later the great Chief Justice administered the oath upon the 
same spot to Jackson at his first inauguration, which was the scene of un- 
precedented enthusiasm. The President-elect and Van Buren rode to the 
Capitol in a phaeton, presented by citizens of New York, made of wood from 
6 



82 The National Capitol 

the old Constitution. The appearance of the rabble which overran Washing- 
ton on this occasion has often been compared with the descent of the barba- 
rians upon Rome. From the descriptions of the doings of the people, the 
coraparisoa is not unfavorable to the barbarians. A ship's cable, stretched 
across the central eastern steps, about two-thirds of the way up, could scarcely 
restrain the madly enthusiastic throng as "Old Hickory," the hero of New 
Orleans, came upon the President's portico to deliver his inaugural. Ten 
thousand persons, which was a huge multitude for that day, are estimated to 
have witnessed the exercises and afterwards to have run riot in the halls and 
upon the lawns of the White House in wild demonstrations of joy. !^Iarshall 
administered the oath, for the last time, again to Jackson in 1833. 

Chief Justice Taney administered the oath of office on the east front of 
the Capitol to Tau Buren in 1S37, to the elder Harrison in 1841, to 
Polk in 1S45, to Taylor in 1849, to Pierce, who, it is claimed, was the first 
to memorize his inaugural, in 1S53, to Bucliauau in 1857, and to Lincolu, 
on the occasion of his first inauguration, in 1861. Lincoln was then stopping 
at Willard's Hotel, and Buchanan, who had been detained at the Capitol 
signing bills, drove thither for him. On the return, the open barouche, with 
Senators Baker and Pearce on the front seat, was surrounded by a guard of 
honor of regular cavalry. After the ceremony in the Senate Chamber, INIr. 
Baker formally introduced Lincoln to the 30,000 persons in waiting upon the 
eastern plaza. When the President-elect began to read his inaugural, the 
wind was blowing briskly, and he laid his heavy cane across the manuscript 
to keep the sheets from flying away. He looked pale and anxious, but read 
his address firmly and distinctly despite the lack of applause. 

It fell to the lot of Taney's successor on the bench. Chief Justice, Chase, 
to administer the oath of office out-of-doors, in front of the same central 
eastern portico, to Lincoln at his second inauguration in 1865 and to Grant 
in 1869 and 1873. President Johnson, it seems, did not accompany Grant to 
the Capitol ; it having been decided that they ride in separate carriages, he 
refused altogether to attend the ceremony. President Hayes was here sworn 
into office by Chief Justice Waite on March 5, 1877 — the 4th coming on 
Sunday. The same oath had been administered to him by the Chief Justice 
in the White House on the Saturday preceding at five minutes past five o'clock, 
to prevent any difficulty in the way of riots which it was feared might occur 
because of the political bitterness at the final determination of the Electoral 
Commission against Samuel J. Tilden. Garfield took the oath of office on 
the east front of the Capitol in 1881, the oath being administered by Chief 
Justice Waite. Hancock, the unsuccessful candidate, was present in the full 
uniform of a Major- General. 

March 4, 1885, was a glorious, propitious day. The people hopefully 
exclaimed: ''Cleveland's luck!" The President-elect delivered his first 



The National Capitol 83 

inaugural from a platform erected on the east front, after which Chief Justice 
Waite administered the oath of office on a small, well-worn, morocco-covered, 
gilt-edged Bible, marked " S. G. Cleveland." It was the gift of the Presi- 
dent's mother, when a young man he first left home to seek his fortune. The 
same little Bible was again called into use eight years later, though Chief 
Justice Fuller then officiated. The day was not the same, however. Snow 
fell in huge wet flakes. There was a spatter as the wheels of the state carriage 
turned up Pennsylvania Avenue. It was almost as cold as the day of Grant's 
second inauguration in 1873. The pedestrians shivered; the horsemen 
scented pneumonia in the air. 

On the same spot, in 1889 and 1897 respectively, Beiijamin Harrison 
in the face of a driving storm, and William McKinley on a day so beautiful 
that it seemed to herald returning prosperity, received the oath of office, 
administered by Chief Justice Fuller, in the presence of the people. The 
arrangements at the inauguration of President McKinley differed from those 
of his predecessors in that the platform constructed for the ceremony extended 
southward from the steps upon the east front of the Senate wing, whence only 
it could be reached. The President-elect delivered his inaugural and took 
the oath of office upon a small pulpit at the corner of the platform instead of 
at the center, as had before been customary. This permitted the crowd in 
the open campus to have a better view of the proceedings, as they could see 
the inauguration from two directions. Upon the steps of the central eastern 
portico, another platform, disconnected, formed a reserved gallery from which 
all was equally well seen. 

It has been customary during the later administrations for the President's 
carriage, his escort and a part of the procession, just before noon, to pass up 
Pennsylvania Avenue to the Peace Monument and thence along North B Street 
to the top of the hill, where the President and President-elect enter the 
grounds. The entire procession, both military and civil, is massed here and 
in the adjacent streets until the completion of the exercises, when the return 
is made along the same route, the President's carriage and guard of honor 
being placed in the van in order that he may reach the Executive Mansion 
first. The state carriage leaves the procession at the Treasury, and passes 
quickly behind that building. The President reviews the marching troops 
and citizens from the stand prepared for the occasion in front of the White 
House lawn. 

At the last inauguration, the beautiful state carriage, drawn by four black 
horses, contained on the back seat, as is now customary, the outgoing and 
the incoming President, Cleveland and McKinley; opposite them sat Mr. 
Sherman of Ohio and Mr. Mitchell of Wisconsin, who composed the com- 
mittee appointed by the Senate for that purpose. During the drive to the 
Capitol, President Cleveland occupied the seat of honor on the right; 



84 



The National Capitol 



returning, after the inauguration, that place became the prerogative of Presi- 
dent McKinley. During the ride to and from the Capitol, Cleveland with 
becoming dignity allowed his silk hat to remain upon his head, while McKin- 
ley, with hat in hand, responded to the cheers of the crowd right and left 
along the way. 

Ceutenuial and Christian Endeavor Celebrations. — The exercises 
attending the hundredth anniversary of the laying of the original corner-stone 
of the Capitol by George Washington, September i8, 1793, were held on the 




THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



east front of the Capitol. Congress adjourned to attend the ceremony in a 
body. President Cleveland was present, and delivered a few appropriate and 
well-chosen words of introduction. He was followed by Vice-President Stev- 
enson, who represented the Senate • by Speaker Crisp, who spoke on behalf of 
the House of Representatives ; and by Mr. Justice Brown, who voiced the 
sentiments of the Supreme Court of the United States in a graceful speech 
containing some research. One of the Commissioners responded for the 
District of Columbia. William Wirt Henry of Virginia, a grandson of Pat- 
rick Henry, as the orator of the day, delivered the principal address. The 
programme was interspersed with music by the Marine Band, under the lead- 
ership of Professor Fanciulli, and by a grand centennial chorus of 1,500 
voices, trained for the occasion. 

In the evening, the campus formed a brilliantly lighted amphitheater for 
the continuation of the exercises. The programme was largely of a musical 
character, embracing choral selections. Patriotic sentiment was awakened 



The National Capitol 



85 




by Charles B. Hanford, the actor, who recited with feeling and art '' The Star 
Spangled Banner." A tablet was placed by permission of Congress above the 
original corner-stone in commemoration of the centennial exercises. The cost 
of this tablet was defrayed by the ^^, 

committee. r ; ,1^ 

On Saturday afternoon, July 
II, 1896, at five o'clock, the 
notes of a more remarkable cho- 
rus, numbering nearly four thou- ... 
sand voices, arose from the 
campus heavenward. It was the 
occasion of the greatest assem- 
bling of the Christian Endeav- 
orers during their visit to Wash- ' 

ington. The central steps of the 
Capitol were devoted to the cho- 
rus, the ladies forming a sort of 
parterre in the center, the men 
ranged on either side. Before 
the steps was erected a flag- 
draped stand for the officers and 
leaders of the United Society, 
and back of this, but still within 
the rope-enclosure, the Marine 
Band on a raised platform con- 
tributed classic strains to the 
fervent ceremony. The throng of ^~ 
people was among the largest and 

most peaceful yet gathered before Congress House, and the procession at the 
close of the exercises was truly unique and inspiring. Down Capitol Hill 
and along Pennsylvania Avenue marched the thousands of enthusiastic En- 
deavorers— men, women and children— led by the Marine Band, the officers 
of the United Society, members of the " Committee of '96 " and the wonder- 
ful chorus. 







EASTERN APPROACH 



The parking in the midst of 
which the Capitol stands now 
consists of $S}4 acres. In the 
old days, there was a fish pond in 
the center to the east, adorned 
with the naval monument, which 
was later removed to the west 
front. There were then so many- 
primeval trees that it seemed like 
a forest. The landscape gardener, 
however, preferring his idea of 
beauty to Nature's, cut down the 
grand old monarchs to make room 
for shrubbery and insignificant 
trees. He might well have re- 
flected upon Lafayette's counsel, 
wise in peace as in war: "Re- 
member, my dear, how much 
easier it is to cut a tree down 
than to make one grow." One 
beautiful beech was preserved. 
It is said that Mr. Sumner inter- 
posed and saved it. The storms 
have not been so kind. 
The grandeur of the structure itself is fortunately in no way dwarfed by the 
presence of surrounding buildings. The eye is impressed with the full beauty of 
its masses and shadows, which, even more than detail, often display the genius 
of architectural creation. While almost purely Greek in design, it has an 
American individuality that distinguishes it from every other building on the 
globe. American history and spirit cling to each Roman arch — to each Grecian 
column, entablature and pediment. From the eastern approach the Capitol 
seems fancifully like a compact in marble representing the unity of the States. 
The building is in three parts — the north wing, the south wing and the central 
structure surmounted by the dome — emblematic to patriotic eyes of the three 
divisions of the federal government, the legislative, executive and judicial. 




The National Capitol 87 

The Decorated Pediments. — The decoration of the pediment above 
the central steps on the eastern fa9ade bespeaks attention. The semi-colossal 
figure in the center represents the " Genius of America." This work is carved 
in alto-rilievo from Virginia sandstone, and is chiefly interesting from the 
fact that John Quincy Adams, when President, furnished the design. It 
was finished just before the meeting of Congress in 1828. In his diary, 
Adams makes the following entry for June 30th of that year : '' Overtaken by 
a storm near the Capitol, and took shelter under one of the arches. Found 
Mr. Persico, the Italian Sculptor, there, and went up to viev his work at the 
pediment, of which I furnished him the design. He is now upon the last fig- 
ure, Hope ; and thus far his execution is very satisfactory. His eagle had been 
indifferent in the drawing; better, but not good, in the model. In the work 
itself it is the pouncing bird. He called my attention to the anchor : he had, 
therefore, gone to Commodore Pingey and taken for his model a true anchor 
of a ship of war. ' And so now,' said he, 'whenever a sailor looks at this 
pediment he will say, " Hovv'exact the anchor is ! " ' He said he would paint 
the scales in the hand of Justice white ; they must be painted to prevent them 
taking the rain, making verdigris, and dropping it upon the stone figures." 

An extract from a letter written June 22, 1825, by Bulfinch, then the archi- 
tect of the Capitol, will be interesting to the student : 

" Our work at the Capitol proceeds but slowly, owing to delay of contractors in deliver- 
ing the large blocks for columns. We have received only 4 this season, which are raised into 
their places, and must have 7 more before the much talked of Pediment can be com- 
menced. With respect to the ornament proposed to decorate this, the artists in general feel 
very much disappointed ; about 30 persons presented 36 designs, some well and others badly 
executed, but none answering the President's idea of a suitable decoration for a legislative 
building. He disclaimed all. wish to exhibit triumphal cars and emblems of victory, and 
all allusions to heathen mythology, and thought that the duties of the Nation or of Legis- 
lators should be impressed in an obvious and intelligible manner. After several attempts, 
the following has been agreed upon : a figure of America occupies, the centre, her right arm 
resting on the shield, supported by an alter or pedestal bearing the inscription _/?//)/ 4, 1776, 
her left hand pointing to the figure of Justice^ who, with uitveiled face, is viewing the 
scales, and the right hand presenting an open scroll inscribed Constitution, March 4, 1789 ; 
on the left of the principal figure is the eagle, and a figure of Hope resting on her anchor, 
with face and right hand up-lifted, — the whole intended to convey that while we cultivate 
Justice we may hope for success. The figures are bold, of 9 feet in height, and gracefully 
drawn by Mr. Persico, an Italian artist. It is intended that an appropriate inscription 
shall explain the meaning and moral to dull comprehensions." 

The cost of this work to the government, though the design of the Presi- 
dent should have been, and undoubtedly was, gratuitous, was $15,000. Soon 
after its completion, a part of the arm of the figure of Justice, together with 
the Constitution, fell from the action of frost to the steps of the portico, and 
was shattered into fragments. 



88 



The Naiional Capitol 




An effective piece of work, designed by Crawford, representing the prog- 
ress of American civilization ard the decadence of the Indian race, adorns 
the pediment of the eastern portico of the Senate wing. In the center stands 
America. On lier right are the soldier, merchant, youths, schoolmaster, pupil 
and mechanic, with the anchor and wheat sheaf as emblems of stability and 
prosperity. On her left, the march of Western civilization is further typified 
by the pioneer — whom curiously enough the sculptor has represented as chop- 
ping left-handed; and by the hunter, the Indian brave, the Indian mother 
and child, and, as the last sad chapter in the story, the Indian grave. 

The pediment was completed in 1862. The statues, which were executed 
in the shops of the extensions, of marble from Tee, Massachusetts, are fastened 
with heavy copper clamps. The figure of America for several years stood 
upon a pedestal in the park ; the companion pieces upon a platform in 
Statuary Hall. Crawford received for the models, and for those of Justice and 
History above the bronze doors of the Senate wing, ^20,000. Thomas Gagliardi 
received $5,500 for chiseling the wheat sheaf, anchor, group of instruction 
and youths. He was assisted by Casoni in cutting the figure of xALmerica and 
the Indian family, for which they jointly received $7,000. Another Italian, 
G. Casprero, was paid $400 for executing the Indian grave. The figures of 
the soldier, merchant, woodman, Indian chief and hunter all were cut by 
G. Butti, for which he was paid $12,350. D. Giampaoli chiseled for $1,900 
the figure of the mechanic. 

It was intended to place in the corresponding tympanum above the east 
portico of the House of Representatives a similar group, indicative of Ameri- 
can life and history, but this has never been carried out. 

Groups and Statues on the Central Portico. — The two marble 
groups upon the blockings over the porte-cochere of the central building attract 



The National Capitol 




considerable attention because of their prominence. The one to the north is 
by Greenough, and is popularly called " The Kescue." It was designed in 
1837 and completed in 185 1. The story is that of a frontiersman saving his 
wife and child from massacre at the hands of an Indian brave. On the cor- 
responding blocking to the south is a group by Persico (1844), known as 
"The Discovery." The central figure is that of Columbus, triumphantly 
holding aloft in his hand a ball representing the globe. By his side cowers 
an Indian girl, awed at the sight of the white man. It is said that the artist 
copied the armor from that still pre- 
served in Genoa, Italy — one of the 
many authentic suits which Columbus 
wore when he discovered America. 

These groups were the outcome of 
a joint resolution of March 4, 1837, 
by which the President was authorized 
to contract for two groups of statuary 
to be placed upon these blockings. 
Eight thousand dollars were appropri- 
ated for the work; but, as usual, the 
final cost far exceeded the intention, 
the expense to the government being 
nearly ^56,000 in all. Persico re- 
ceived the first order. The contract 
for the second group was made with 
Greenough while he was at work in 
Florence upon his statue of Wash- 
ington, and while wonderful reports 
of its excellence were being brought 
to America by his friends. It also 
was urged on his behalf that a native 
sculptor should have a commission 
for one of the groups in order that 
American and foreign art might be well contrasted at the Capitol. It is 
fortunate that no country need rely on either production to establish its 
artistic excellence. 

The two marble figures in the niches at the back of this portico, to the 
right and left of Rogers' bronze doors, command critical admiration for grace 
and dignity of pose, strength in modeling, and appropriateness of design. 
These statues are of Mars and Ceres, the man in Roman mail with shield 
and sword — emblems of war ; and the woman bearing the fruitful olive branch 
— personification of peace. They were authorized by the appropriation 
bill of March 3, 1829, which contained a clause " to enable the President 




l^l&tiaAKdJI^ 



\l 



THE RESCUE 
Greenough 



90 



The National Capitol 



5c t; 







m 






to contract with Luigi Persico to execute two statues for the east front of the 
Capitol." The conclusion of this contract with the Italian sculptor was the 
last otficial act of John Quincy Adams as President of the United States. 

EacJi statue cost the government :> 12,000. They must have been placed 
in their present positions since 1S55. as not till then was an appropriation 
made by Congress for the niches in which they stand. 

On the wall of the central 
portico above the bronze doors 
is a work by Capellano (1827). 
It represents the head and shoul- 
ders of Washington, with two 
angelic figures in the act of 
crowning his brow with tri- 
umphal wreaths. 

Kogrers' Bronze Doors. 
— The beautiful bronze doors at 
the eastern entrance to the ro- 
tunda are popularly called " The 
Columbus Doors" because they 
represent scenes in the life of 
that great admiral. Thev were 
designed and modeled in Rome 
in 1S58 by Randolph Rogers, a 
young American of whom his 
countrymen should feel proud, 
and cast by F. von Miller, a 
German, in Munich in 1S60. 
The two leaves, each composed 
of four panels — with transom, 
frame and trimming's also in 
bronze — were cast in sections. The doors were first placed in the arch lead- 
ing from Statuar}- Hall to the soutli extension, in November, 1S63. They 
were soon removed, however, to their present position. 

The lowest panel upon the left represents Columbus before the Council of 
Salamanca, where he was denied asi^istance and his theories ridiculed bv the 
wise men of the court. Discouraged, he sought the Convent of La Rabida, 
at the hands of whose worthy prior, Juan Perez, he had before found sympathy 
and aid. The next panel represents the navigator setting forth for the court 
of Spain, where, finally, through a letter to the queen from Perez, her one- 
time confessor, the interview with Ferdinand and Isabella set forth in the 
third panel was secured. The upper panel shows the departure of Columbus 
from Palos on his first voyage of discover}-, Friday, August 3, 1492. 




THE niSCOVERY 
P.-rsico 



The National Capitol 93 

The large transom surmounting the doors represents the landing of the 
Spaniards in the New World, Friday, October 12th, upon the island of 
Guanahani, of which Columbus took possession in the name of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, and which he christened San Salvador in honor of the Savior. 

The upper panel upon the right portrays the re-embarkation of Columbus 
for home, taking with him several natives as a proof of his discovery. The 
one next below shows the triumphal entry of the great navigator, upon his 
return to Spain, into Barcelona, where the sovereigns and the court were eager 
to welcome the successful explorer most royally. Then follows the recall 
and arrest of Columbus, the humiliating termination of his third voyage of 
discovery, upon groundless charges preferred by Bobadilla, a degradation 
which was in some part lightened by the fact that the chains were ordered 
from his wrists through the intercession of his friend. Queen Isabella. The 
lowest panel to the right tells the sad story of the death of the aged dis- 
coverer, then in his seventy-third year, at Valladolid, in 1506. 

The sixteen small statuettes in the niches on the right and left of the 
panels represent friends of Columbus, and explorers, conquerors and sover- 
eigns connected with the discovery and settlement of the New World. They 
are Alexander VI. of Rome, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Charles VIII. 
of France, John II. of Portugal, Henry VII. of England, Mendoza, Lady B. 
d'Bobadilla, Perez, Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, Bartholomew Columbus, 
Ojeda, Vespucci, Cortez, Balboa and Pizarro. Above and below the panels 
are the heads of Irving, Prescott and other historians. The four figures at the 
corners of the frame are emblematic of the four continents — Asia and Europe 
on the left, Africa and America on the right. The head of Columbus, deli- 
cately worked, crowns the arch of the door. 

The sculptor evidently drew his inspiration for these doors from the bronze 
doors of Ghiberti at the gates of the Baptistery in Florence, which they resem- 
ble in all but theme ; and though the world-renowned Italian gates are gen- 
erally conceded to be the best example of their class of art, the Columbus 
doors compare favorably with them, and command universal admiration, not 
only for the conception and arrangement of the story told, but for fineness of 
detail, good modeling and a general effect of strength and beauty combined. 
The doors are 18 feet in height and 9 feet in width; and weigh 20,000 
pounds. They have cost the government ^28,500, of which Rogers received 
^8,000 for the model, and Von Miller ^17,000. 



THE ROTUNDA 

The walls of the rotunda, or interior of the dome, are divided into twelve 
panels by lofty classic pilasters or Grecian antas. Isthmian wreaths ornament 
the entablature thus supported. The upper section of the interior, which is 
rendered effective in finish by innumerable caissons or sunken panels, is 
crowned by a bowl-shaped roof or canopy. Beneath this frescoed ceiling 
runs a circular landing, from which, as well as from the winding stairs where 
they pass in the ascension the belt of windows which circle the dome above 
the frieze and give it light, it is possible to look down upon the rotunda. 
Across the space, though measuring 65 feet, whispers can be distinctly heard — ■ 
the voice seeming to come from above and behind the listener. 

The decorations of the rotunda are a fair example of the art of the Capi- 
tol. While much of this is individually fine, it everywhere presents a patch- 
work appearance, the more meritorious pictures in many instances suffering 
severely by association with the merest daubs. There is a want of that 
harmony necessary to produce an artistic effect commensurate with such an 
imposing interior. This is due, in part, to material changes in the styles of 
decoration during the growth of the building, and, in part, to the fact that 
some of the artists have been selected as well as hampered by " a little brief 
authority" or by Congressional legislation. 

Let but some method other than favoritism and political influence be 
devised for the selection of art and artists, and the walls of the National 
Capitol will become, as they long ago should have been, a mangel of beauty 
throughout. One attempt has been made in this direction. It was during 
the erection of the marble wings which brought a wild desire for decoration, 
stimulated, no doubt, by diplomatic efforts of certain foreign artists at Wash- 
ington. They secured most of the contracts ; and the feelings of their Ameri- 
can brethren, especially of the more incompetent ones, naturally were bitter. 
This led to a memorial to Congress and to the provision in the acts of June 
12, 1858, and March 3, 1859, that none of the money thereby appropriated for 
the extensions should be expended in decoration or embellishment by sculp- 
ture or painting unless such works of art had been examined and accepted 
by distinguished artists, three in number, to be selected by the President. 

This commission sat in Washington. The spirit of its members, however, 
seemed to defeat its object. It devoted itself rather to the detraction of 
existing art and of the artists then at work than to the consideration of proper 



The National Capitol 95 

means for the attainment of harmonious and good results in the future. Its 
criticism of the imported masters, however, was not without some degree of 
justice, as is evinced by much of their work itself. There is no doubt that 
American artists of attainment are better able to portray on canvas and in 
marble the history, spirit and individuality of their own country than any of 
foreign birth. In this vein, it is interesting to note that the sons of the emi- 
nent American artist, Benjamin West, whose genius first commanded respect 
in Europe for his country's art, in 1826* offered to Congress in vain one 
hundred and fifty of their father's paintings, though the worst abortions have 
again and again received from it the highest compensation. 

There is truth as well as humor in Mark Twain's reflections: "So you 
observe, that you take your view from the back of the capitol. And yet not 
from the airy outlooks of the dome, by the way, because to get there you 
must pass through the great rotunda : and to do that, you would have to see 
the marvelous Historical Paintings that hang there, and the bas-reliefs — and 
what have you done that you should suffer thus ? And besides, you might 
have to pass through the old part of the building, and you could not help 
seeing Mr. Lincoln, as petrified by a young lady artist for $10,000 — and you 
might take his marble emancipation proclamation which he holds out in his 
hand and contemplates, for a folded napkin ; and you might conceive from 
his expression and his attitude, that he is finding fault with the washing. 
Which is not the case. Nobody knows what is the matter with him; but 
everybody feels for him. Well, you ought not to go into the dome anyhow, 
because it would be utterly impossible to go up there without seeing the fres- 
coes in it — and why should you be interested in the delirium tremens of art ? " 

Brumidi. — The story of the Capitol cannot be written without the name 
Constantino Brumidi. f About his life romance clings. Even in childhood 
the gods favored his hand with fine artistic cunning. His father was a Greek, 
his mother an Italian. He learned the art of fresco, which is now in its 
higher development almost a forgotten art, in Rome, where he was a student 
of painting and architecture at the Accademia di San Luca. His work in 
sculpture under the direction of Canova attracted the attention of Thorwaldsen. 

Brumidi was a captain of the Papal Guards during the revolutionary times 
in Rome just before Rossi was assassinated, Pius IX. — an exile — deprived of 
his temporal power, and Garibaldi and the people triumphant. Refusing to 
execute commands to turn the guns of his company upon the oppressed, 
Brumidi's house was surrounded by soldiers in the dead of night, and he him- 
self arbitrarily arrested and thrown into, prison, where he lay for thirteen 

* See Appendix, p. 25g. 

f For facts concerning Brumidi's career, the author is indebted to his son, Mr. L. S. 
Brumidi, himself an artist. > - 



96 The National Capitol 

months. He was released at the intervention of the Pope, whose friendship 
he had won by the clever execution of two paintings of his eminence, upon 
condition that he immediately leave Italy. Brumidi first landed in New 
York, but finding that city less desirous of art than it is to-day, departed 
for Mexico in the hope of richer patronage. He returned after three years, 
and came to Washington, which he had previously visited, to enter upon his 
life-work at the Capitol. 

Fresco. — -The art of fresco, which has long flourished in Italy, was known 
and practiced by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The Germans, French 
and northern nations had no knowledge of the art. The French, in their 
mural decorations, paint in oils directly upon the wall, or in their studios at 
leisure upon canvas, which they afterwards press upon the 'wall, coated with 
white lead, until the picture sets and becomes firm. This was the process 
used in most instances in the decoration of the new building for the Congres- 
sional Library. Fresco is the Italian word iox fresh ; the process is so called 
because the plaster is wet or fresh when the colors are applied. The wall or 
ceiling, before the decoration, resembles the first coat of plaster ordinarily 
given to a room. The colors are liquefied with water, and so naturally sink 
into the prepared background and become a part of it. As the wet plaster is 
much darker than the dry, it is very difficult so to apply the colors, which 
change materially in drying, that the tone is preserved harmonious through- 
out. It requires long experience and artistic judgment. Then, too, the 
pallet is meager. Mineral or earth colors only can be used, as the lime in 
the plaster, which is used for white, eats and destroys all other paints. No 
lakes, no vermilions, no carmines, as in oils, are at the artist's hand ; he must 
produce his flesh tints by clever combinations with light and Indian reds. 
Brumidi 's flesh tints are therefore worthy of study. 

The Canopy. — The canopy which forms the ceiling of the rotunda was 
finished by Brumidi in 1865. This conception of the artist, because of its 
great height from the observer, was drawn in heroic proportions. It represents 
the beatification of the spirit of George Washington, who is seated in the 
center. On his right sits Freedom and on his left Victory ; while grouped about 
are thirteen female figures emblematic of the thirteen original States. On the 
banneret stretching across the picture are the words " E Pluribus Unum." 

Around the base of the canopy are groups suggestive of the spirit of revo- 
lution and its resulting progress, as beheld in the history of the young Repub- 
lic : armed Liberty with shield and sword conquering Royalty, the armored 
soldier in vain endeavoring to uphold the ermine at which the eagle with out- 
stretched wings strikes with beak and claws ; Minerva, the Goddess of Arts 
and Sciences; Ceres, of the Harvest; Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, 
representing Eloquence and Commerce ; Vulcan, the God of Mechanics ; and 
Neptune, with his trident, the God of the Marine. 



The National Capitol 



97 



Just before his death, Brumidi was criticised, especially in the papers of 
the South, for an alleged caricature of the leaders of the Confederacy. 
Though the artist always denied the accusation, it is interesting to observe 
the resemblance of the figures to the right of armed Liberty to Jefferson j)avis 
and Alexander H. Stephens, the President and Vice-President of the Confed- 
eracy, and of the two figures to the left to General Robert E. Lee and John 
B. Floyd, the Secretary of War under Buchanan. The scene itself is certainly 




THE CANOPY 



suggestive of the stamping otrt of the Rebellion : a thunder-bolt, representing 
the wrath of the Gods, is being hurled from on high at Stephens ; while the 
President of the Confederacy, with a lighted torch, is fleeing from the wrath 
of the colossal figure of armed Liberty above. But it is not possible that 
Brumidi intended these as portraits ; for he was the friend of most of the 
Confederate leaders, and probably the last to see Jefferson Davis before he 
left the capital for the South. When the artist first came to Washington to 
reside, the government was in the hands of the men who afterwards led in the 
7 



98 The National Capitol 

Confederacy. He became intimate with them, and found them more conge- 
nial than many of Northern birth ; for their temperaments were warm and 
Italian like his own. Nor, on the other hand, can he be justly accused of dis- 
loyalty to the Union ; for he left Italy because of his republicanism, as his 
father before him fled from Greece for the like good cause, and it is not pos- 
sible that a spirit so imbued would uphold slavery in its adopted country. 

In the group of Arts and Sciences are clearly portrayed by the artist's 
intention the features of Franklin, Fulton and Morse, that trio who, more 
than any other, has annihilated space and conquered time. The face of Vul- 
can in the group representing Mechanics is thought by many strongly to sug- 
gest T. U. Walter, the architect of the marble extensions and the new dome, 
though he strenuously objected to the commemoration of his features by his 
artist-friend on the ceiling of the rotunda. Two figures in the group of Com- 
merce are thought to be those of Robert Morris, the great financier of the 
Revolution, who spent his last days in a debtor's cell, and of Alexander 
Hamilton, the organizer of the Treasury Department of the United States. 
The statement that the fair faces of the maidens depicted in this fresco are 
likenesses of the sweethearts of the artist at various periods of his romantic 
career, cannot be authenticated, and probably the suggestion has arisen from 
the fact that Brumidi used many attractive models in drawing his designs. 

The groundwork upon which this fresco is executed is of copper covered 
with plaster. The canopy is like a huge bowl in appearance, 65 feet in diam- 
eter, with a concavity of nearly 21 feet; and the distance from its center to 
the center of the floor of the rotunda is 180 feet 3 inches. The artist's con- 
tract price was $39,500. It is almost the only piece of work which Brumidi 
performed in the Capitol for which he received other than a per diem com- 
pensation of ten dollars. 

The Frieze.— About 75 feet from the floor, the walls of the rotunda are 
belted by a frieze, which, at the first glance, gives the impression of alto- 
rilievo. It is, however, a fresco, the work of two foreign-born artists, Bru- 
midi and Costaggini, and represents scenes in the history of the New World 
from the time of its discovery. 

Following the landing of Columbus in 1492, are : the entry of Cortez into 
the Halls of the Montezumas in 1521 ; Pizarro's conquest of Peru in 1533; 
the midnight burial of De Soto in the Mississippi in 1541 ; Pocahontas saving 
the life of Captain John Smith in 1606; the landing of the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620; and Penn's treaty of peace with the 
Indians in 1682. 

Brumidi was taken ill in 1880, shortly after finishing the figure of William 
Penn, and died February 4th, quite advanced in years, presumably from the 
effect of the shock produced by a partial fall from the scaffolding upon which 
he worked. The watchman just below the canopy, who was accustomed to 



The National Capitol 99 

follow with his eyes the progress of the artist, saw him fall, and running down 
the long flights of steps, succeeded in rescuing the old gentleman as he clung 
nearly exhausted to the ladder, or he would have fallen and been dashed to 
pieces on the floor beneath. The chair upon which he sat in order to paint 
had been pushed backward on the small platform, and as his assistant was 
absent, there was no one on the scaffolding to rescue him. 

Upon Brumidi's death, Filippo Costaggini was engaged to complete the 
frieze. The late artist's designs were promptly appropriated without remuner- 
ation to his family for the thought and labor which they contained. The first 
figure which Costaggini painted is easily distinguished as the one to the right 
of William Penn. The first entire group executed by the newly engaged artist 
represents a scene in Plymouth Colony, in December, 1620, thus described by 
Governor Bradford in the " Log" of the Mayfloiver : " And afterwards took 
better view of the place, and resolved where to pitch their dwelling ; and the 
25 th day began to erect the first house, for common use, to receive them and 
their goods." 

Following this in order are : the treaty of peace between Governor Ogle- 
thorpe of Georgia and the Indians in 1732 ; the battle of Lexington in 177-5 ; 
the reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which, as John 
Adams writes on July 9th, "was yesterday published and proclaimed from 
that awful stage in the State-house yard ; by whom do you think ? By the 
Committee of Safety, the Committee of Inspection, and a great crowd of 
people " ; the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 ; the death 
of Tecumseh, who is said to have been killed by Colonel Richard Johnson, 
at the battle of the Thames in 1813, the only Vice-President elected by the 
Senate instead of by the electoral college; General Scott's entry into the city 
of Mexico in 1847 ; and the discovery of .gold in California in 1848. 

Since May, 1889, work upon the frieze has been suspended, principally 
because no subjects have been determined upon for the final groups. All of 
Brumidi's designs have been executed. It was his intention to have but one 
more picture in the belt. Costaggini, however, in placing the designs of his 
predecessor in the frieze, has crowded them to make room for two sketches — 
by himself. He proposes the junction in May, 1869, of the Union and 
Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory Point, Utah, with Leland Stanford 
driving the golden spike which bound the iron girders connecting the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans ; and the opening of the World's Fair, with President 
Cleveland touching the button which set its wheels in motion. 

Whether it is that Congress has had too much annoyance over the Pacific 
roads to place a constant reminder upon the walls of the rotunda, we know 
not; but when on June i, 1896, Mr. Hansbrough reported to the Senate a joint 
resolution, without amendment, " For completing the painting of the frieze in 
the Rotunda of the United States Capitol by Filippo Costaggini, after designs 



loo The National Capitol 

to be furnished by him and approved by the Joint Committee on the Library, 
six thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary," Mr. Hawley 
said : " I am not quite satisfied with the manner in which the frieze is being 
finished or conducted. I make no especial criticism upon the President of 
the United States for various reasons, and he might find his place upon it, but 
I am not quite satisfied with an attempt to approve a history of the United 
States, which the frieze is supposed to suggest, that omits George Washington 
and Abraham Lincoln, and presents Mr. Cleveland, when we consider the 
respective positions of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Cleveland during the great war 
of the rebellion." In replying to the Connecticut Senator and in support of 
his report, Mr. Hansbrough said : " I have here two sketches which it is pro- 
posed to use in completing the fresco work. The one that the Senator from 
Connecticut objects to, or believes he objects to, represents President Cleve- 
land pressing the electric button which notified the world that the World's Fair 
was open. It also represents in the background the Duke of Veragua and his 
familv, the remnants of the Columbus family, and all there is left of it. It 
will be remembered that the first painting in the frieze of the Dome is a fresco 
representing Columbus landing in America. The last one will be a fresco 
representing the opening of the World's Fair, attended by the only living 
descendants of the Columbus family. The Committee think it a very appro- 
priate sketch." 

To this Mr. Hawley replied : " I wonder how a man giving the history of 
the United States could entirely skip the great war of the Union. If you ask 
how I would put it upon the frieze, if I did nothing else I would represent the 
apple tree at Appomattox and Grant and Lee shaking hands, with surrounding 
touches and intimations of troops and various designs. I do not object to 
the Senator's idea of giving a hint of the great exhibition at Chicago, but I 
object to the utter absence of the greatest historical event since the War of the 
Revolution — one of the greatest in all history." The resolution passed the 
Senate. 

Representative Boutelle, on the 6th of the same month, introduced into the 
House a joint resolution which called for some suitable design which should 
" symbolize the great events in the national life since the close of the Mexi- 
can war, and appropriately commemorate the preservation of the Union and 
the establishment of universal freedom by heroic valor and sacrifice of the 
citizens of the Republic under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln." This 
is as far as the matter has gone. The Brumidi scaffolding still hangs, as it 
has hung for years, like a huge, ungainly spider, to the walls of the rotunda. 

In order to appreciate the merits of Brumidi 's figures, we have but to 
compare his work in the frieze-belt with that of the artist employed to com- 
plete it, bearing in mind the words placed in the mouth of Michael Angelo 
by the poet Longfellow : 



The National Capitol 



lOI 



" I have often said 
That I account that painting as the best 
Which most resembles sculpture. Here before us 
We have the proof. Behold these rounded limbs ! 
How from the canvas they detach themselves, 
Till they deceive the eye, and one would say. 
It is a statue with a screen behind it ! " 

The first show a delightful warmth and gradation of tone. The background 
is darker, and sets out the figures in bolder relief. This Brumidi intended to 
make harmonious throughout upon the completion of the belt. The figures of 
Costaggini are cold and hard, and in some instances produce the grotesque 
effect of having been flattened out of drawing. 




The superiority of the elder artist is more noticeable in the first three 
groups. Toward the close of his life, his physical powers were inadequate to 
the difficulties of painting in such a necessarily constrained position, unas- 
sisted by sufficient moving of the scaffolding. Brumidi 's art, however, here 
as elsewhere, is not always of the best. His painting is very uneven; much 
of it extremely fine, some of it execrable. No higher compliment, however, 
could be paid to his genius than the expression of a group of artists, who 
were decorating the new building for the Congressional Library, overheard 
when they visited the Capitol to study the frescoes of the Italian : " We have 
nothing equal to this in the Library. There is no one who can do such work 
to-day." 

Tlie Trumtoull Painting-s. — The four historical paintings which adorn 
the larger panels on the western walls of the rotunda are the work of John 
Trumbull, a son of Jonathan Trumbull, Revolutionary Governor of Connecti- 
cut. They represent vital scenes connected with the War for Independence, 



The National Capitol 



In Congress. a.L.lh.e hulcpendcjice H.\U. Philadelphia, July -i^ 177d, 




1. GEO. WHYTE Vn. 

2. WM. VKHlPfVE KH. 

S. JQSIAH BARTLErX MH 
*. BENJ. HARRISON Vtv. 
5, TWDMAS LYNCH S.C. 

6 RICHARD HENRY lEE Vtu 

7 SAM ADAMS M.1SS. 

8. CEO CLINTON NY. 

9. WILLIAM PACA Md. 



la Samuel chase mh. 

11, LEWIS MORRIS NY. 
U. WILLIAM riOYD NY. 
B. ARTHUR MIODLfTON S C. 



J9, BENJAMIN RUSH P». JS JAMES WILSON F*. ST'^OHN WITHERSPOON NJ. 
» ELBRIDCXE CERRY Mass. M FRANCIS HOPKINSON NJ SSSAM, HONTINGTON Coti. 
il.ROe.TREAT R^fNE J1L1N..SO JOHN ADAMS Miiss. S\ VMIIOA)! WIUIAMS .CoiO 



■r^ ABRAM CLARK N.J. 



W. THOMAS H,*YWARO S. C- iV STEPH HOPKINS K.t 

15. CHAS. CARROLL Nil. 24. WILLIAM ELlERY R.I. 

16. CEO. WALTON C». i.^CEO. CLYNER F.x 

17. ROe MORRIS Fil, ilxWILllAN HOOPER N, C 

18. THOM. WILLING IV 27, JOSEPH HEWES KC. 



Jl. ROCJtR SHERMAN C«i. -MOLIVER wOLCOTT l'ou. 
Si K06. L.LIVINCSTON NX 41. JOHN HANCOCK iUvt. 
S.\ THOMAS JEFFERSON Va. «. CHAS THOMPSON l\v. 
.oA.PET<J. FRANKLIN Kv ^iCEOf^Ct READ DeL 
S6.RICHAR0 STOCKTON.NT.i;.JOHN DICKINSON F«u 
StiFRANCIS LEWIS N.I' .iitOW. RUTLEOGE -SC 



THOMAS M'REAN Va. 



..; PHILIP LIVINGSTON N.Y. 



in which the artist himself participated. Tnimlnill rose to the position of 
aide-de-camp to General Washington by reason of his skilful execution of 
drawings showing the enemy's works, and, later, was assigned to the command 
of Gates as acting Adjutant-General, with the rank of colonel. In the peaceful 
arts, he was the pupil of Benjamin West, whose intluence in style is here 
seen. 

Taking otfense at the action of Congress regarding the date of his com- 
mission, the young soldier resigned from the army in 1777 and sailed for 
Europe to prosecute his more congenial studies. While in London, at the 
time of the Major Andre affair, he was unfortunately arrested as an American 
spy, and imprisoned for seven months > but. principally through the inter- 
position of AVest, who was the painter in ordinary, the King, George III., 
promised that, in any event, the artist's head should be spared, and, finally, 
through the efforts of Fox, Burke and others, ordered his release upon con- 
dition that he leave England in thirty days. The terms were gladly acceded 
to; West and Copley became his sureties ; and Trumbull shortly again took 
up his residence in his native land, where he devoted himself assiduously to 
the painting of life portraits — among which were several of Washington — for 
proposed historical pictures. I'pon the restoration of peace, Trumbull made 



Tlu: NationnI Capitol 105 

other trips to F-nrojic, of which he took ;i(iv;int;i|;(' to further prosecute his 
sttulics ;iii(i fxtcnd his colh'ct ion. 

In 1S17, nltci- s|>rn(lini; ncaily two years in tryin}^ to awaken tlie syni|);itliies 
of liis government in belialf of Anu:riea,n art, 'rrunihnli secured from (Congress 
a resohition, approved l''ehniarv f)th, aiitliorizin};' the President to em|)h)y liim 
to execiiie foiii' |>ai lit i n;',s (dinineiiimal i\'e of tlie most important events of the 
American Ki'vohil ion, to \h' plated, when linisluMl, in the ( 'apitol. This was 
effeetctl through the inllueni c of llie artist's many fiiends and the interest 
awakened by the studies \\hi(l: he e\liil>ited for some time in the Ilall of 
Ke])resiMitatives. A spiiiteil debate, which is i-epoiled as having Ix'cn " inter- 
esting, aninsinf; and instructive," OCcnncd at the third rc-adinf^ upon the<(ues- 
tion of the passaj^e of the n-solntion. It was advocated by ("alhoini, John 
Randolph of Roanoke^ ( Irosvenor, Harrison and others, and ])assi'd in spite 
of the op|)osition of Ross, f'orsylh, llardin and Robertson, who, while they 
generally recognized the laleiils of the artist, urged economy, and were narrowly 
adverse to the govi-rnmcnl bc( oming a patron of the fine arts. 

As the choict" of subjects was Icll to the l'',\ecut ive, the artist innnediatcly 
waited upon President Ma.dison. 'I'liimbull proposed making the |)ictnres six 
fei't high bv nine feel long, but the President objected. '' ( 'onsi(k;r, sir," 
saiil he, " the vast size of the a,partment in which these works are to be 
placed the rotunda, one hinidred feet in diaineter, and the same in height 
- — paintings of tlie si/e which you pi'opose, will be lost in such a, spa,ce ; they 
must be of dimensions to admit the figures to bi; the size of life." The con- 
tract for the paintings was formally executed on March 15th l)y Richard Rush, 
acting Sec-retary of State; and Trumbull innnediately set to work u])on the 
canvases. 'Vhc artist receiviMl #<S,ooo in adva,nc;e, which was evidently very 
welcome; for, with tin' usual fatality of a, man of genius, he admits that he 
had been " c(jnstajitly drifting ujjon the fatal lee-shore of de1)t, and of ne- 
cessity was driven to coiitinue the wretched resoun'e of borrowing the means 
of subsisti'iice." 

Trumbull was unusually well fitted for his task ]iy reason of his actual 
knowledge of the war and his personal ac^piaintance with the builders of the 
nation. The ^^32,000 which he received from C'ongress in ])ayment for the 
four ])ictures was only a reasonable compensation for the time oc(uipiecl and 
the cleverness displayed in the studies and finished works. For their histori- 
cal vahu', if for naught else, the ])aintings are worthy of the pUice they 
occupy. The individual portraits are valuable as re])licas of life ])ortraits 
contained in the small original picturt-s now in the Trumbull collc-ction at 
Yale UniviMsity. Washington, writing to i,afayette in 1.791, ^'"-y^ "'^ Trum- 
bull's work : " Me has s])ared no jiains in obtaining froni the life, the likenesses 
of those characters, F'rench as well as American, who bore a consj)icuous ])art 
in our Revolution; and the success with which his efforts have been crowned, 



lot) 



The National Capitol 



SHJlRlKEIiODISlE ©IP (KEIinBIKLM. TBTU]R©®1lTOB 






■i^,-i! At Sarato.^a N.Y October 17*^1777 




,>a 



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& Ma^oi HULL Mass t> Colonel CREATON M«s 7. M»io«- OEARBORNt KH S Colonel SOMMELL N H* 

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13. CeufrAi *»ron RItOEStL i^em^ut. \X CWonrf WILKINSON J'vut>-.<Ji>.J,tnt afiatiytt..tnr.-tiM%. W Orucrui GATES, 
IN Colom-l PRESCOTT JKjtf lWk.-«6wrs 1« Ojkiaisl MORGAN IV.ye^M AVf»;.»».-» H BnjfRdiM- Ccnci.-«1 RCFUS PUTNAM Mux. 
la Lifutonaiit Coiontfl ^lOHN BROOKS Ui* iV.«f^>- -■/■ .Vaj^j<Aw*tts 19 Krv Mr HITCHCOCK ^X.^pU^n R.l 

20 M^or ROe TROUP .kU M i«r-v' N^X il. Maior HASKUl ?." M»jop ARMSTRONG. JS. Major Oca PH SCHUYLER .'U><aAy 
Z*. BiKS'^Uier Ccn«\vl CLOVER Mass. i.' ¥rv;>a.K-j Coi. WHIPPLE .VTf */<;«. iO. M«i>w M ClARKSON dU Jt f««j» N.Y. 
il Major E6ENEZER STEVENS M.«ss C.mn.ttJt-wt\^J^,^n,- 



will form no small part of the value of his pieces." The sameness of 
expression in the various faces, so often noted, is due as much to the fact that 
the style of the period was to appear with the face smoothly shaven as to a 
^^-ant of individuality expressed by the painter. The Pxike de l.auzun is 
noticeable as the only one in the four pictures wearing even a moustache. 
Many of the figures are stiff and unnatural, and the perspective is not alwap 
of the best. The grouping, however, is good, and while the pictures do not 
in color, drawing, imagination or vitality approach the excellence reached by 
jMeissonier, Detaille, Sargent, Dagnan-Bouveret and other modern soldier and 
portrait painters, they compare favorably with the art of their own period and 
are creditable to the purposes of the artist. 

The Signing of the Declaration of Independence is the most generally 
admired, as it is the most natural in tone and finish ; after it, the Resignation 
of Washington. Perhaps the superiority of these interior scenes is somewhat 
attribiitable to the artist's apparent want of skill in landscape painting, 
evinced by the backgrounds in the companion pictures. John Quinc}- Adams, 
in his diary of September i, iSiS, written in New York, gives an interesting 
reflection in disparagement of the picture which is mnv best liked : " Called 



The National Capitol 109 

about eleven o'clock at Mr. Trumbull's house, and saw his picture of the 
Declaration of Independence, which is now nearly finished. I cannot say I 
was disappointed in the execution of it, because my expectations were very 
low; but the picture is immeasurably below the dignity of the subject. It 
may be said of Trumbull's talent as the Spaniards say of heroes who were brave 
on a certain day : he has painted good pictures. I think the old small picture 
far superior to this large new one. He himself thinks otherwise. He has 
some books on the President's table which the Abbe Correa advised him to 
letter on the backs, Locke and Sidney. I told him I thought that was not the 
place for that. They were books for the members to read at home, but not to 
take with them there. I advised him to letter them simply ' Journals.' " 

Upon the completion of all the paintings, they were hung in their present 
positions, two of them by the President's permission having been previously 
exhibited in other cities, where they are said to have met with general praise. 
The Declaration of Independence was first teniporarily hung in the room of 
the north wing, then used for the sittings of the Supreme Court. That por- 
tion of the old Capitol had been first rebuilt and was believed to be dry; but 
it proved far otherwise. When the paintings were hung, John Randolph, who 
had supported and voted for the Trumbull resolution, maliciously criticised 
them in debate, in opposition to the New England members, who, in the 
finished work, found praise for the artist. His bitterness, however, can be 
accounted for upon no other hypothesis than that Congressmen, like the ladies, 
have the privilege of changing their minds. 

" When, in 1824, I went to Washington," writes Trumbull, " to place all 
the paintings in their ultimate destination, I found the grand room finished 
indeed, but so very damp that I felt great reluctance in placing them there, 
and insisted most strenuously upon having the great opening in the centre of 
the room, which had been left for the purpose of lighting the crypt, closed ; 
for, as the arches behind and under the porticos were closed only by iron 
grilles, the external air was freely admitted into the crypt, in all varieties of 
weather, as well by night as by day, and thence, by means of this unfortunate 
and ill judged opening, distributed through the great room, to every part of the 
principal floor of the building, rendering the atmosphere of all of the apart- 
ments equally damp and cold as the weather in the open square. My remon- 
strances, however, were all in vain; and in this situation the four paintings 
were placed and remained until, in 1828, the change on their surfaces became 
obvious and conspicuous to all who saw them, and occasioned the resolution 
of the house of representatives alluded to in the following report,* which I 
addressed to the speaker of the house on the 9th of December, 1828." 

To guard against future injury, the paintings under the artist's direction 

* See Appendix, p. 257. 



no 



The National Capitol 



/^rsjffimiEwiiBiEM aw iLdDmio) j^om'mwaililiS 




. GouMt DEUXPONTS Cblanel of Fruvch. tnTamiy . 2. Diike de lAVAL MONTMORENCY ColortU of Srcn^'/i. InTuyzCf^ 
Count CUSTINE Colorvcl of Frcrich, Iru'antiy . 't. . DuXc de LAUZUN Colortel of Frin.cK c£va^lry 

Oeuera.1 CHOIZY. 6 VSscoimt, VIOMENIL. 7. Marquis de S' SIMON. 3. Count r^RSi.H Aiildt Camp of Counc Hoc/mm4>6aiS:- 
Count CHARLES ^fMf.Z AiH. dcCtunp of Count Rochumbeau., 10.. Majxjuis CHASTELLUH. 11. Baron V10ME.NIJ.. 

. Count de BAR RAS ^otra^ti^ 13. Count de GRASS E //<imu-ai. (M. Count ROCHAMBEAU Cenernl en. Oicf des Franpais 

. Oaieral LINCOLN. Itt Cblonel E. STEVENS of Jmcruan. AniUery 17. CeneriU WASHINGTON ConuJUuider O' ■ Chief. 

.THOM. NELSON Cov of Va.. 19. Morqvus . LA FAYETTE. 20. Baron STEU BEN . 21. Col. COBB Aid lU pimp to OenMashingtan^' 

•Colonel TRUMBULL SecreUuy ta otyi. VAshuiiicon,. 23. Major General JAMES CLINTON N.Y. 24. Cene'-ai GIST.Md. 

1. Cen ANTHONY WAYNE Po.. 26. Coner'al . H AN D Va.. Adju^Cajic General. 27. General PETER MUHLENBERG Fa; 

S Major Ci«n HENRY KNOX ComjnxLnder of ArtUUry . 29. Lieut Col.- E HUNTIN&TON Acting Jui cU Camp of Oen.Lmcoln.. 

). Colonel TIMOTHY PICKERING Quanermaster General . 31 -Colonel ALEX HAMILTON CommcauUrui l.uilu,' liifanay. 
j: Co). JOHN LAURENS S.U., 33. Colonel WAtJER STUART Miilei. .34. Colonel NICHOLAS fiSH jS^- 



were removed to dry rooms and the backs of the canvases coated with melted 
beeswax and oil of turpentine. The niches in the solid walls were plastered 
with hydraulic cement. At the same time, curtains were hung which could be 
drawn over the pictures when the rotunda was swept, and self-closing baize 
doors erected to keep out the cold air. 

Strange to say, the light from above, which the artist fought to obtain 
by the construction of the old dome, and which is similar in the new one, is 
so diffused that, aided by thousands of shadows and reflections and by the 
peculiar colors used in the paintings, it has preserved the Trumbull pictures 
seventy-three years uncopied save by pencil. Even the vignettes used by the 
government in the adornment of certain monetary issues are engraved from 
sketches. J. K. Hillers, the photographer of the Geological Survey, and one 
of the party who, with Major Powell, first explored the Grand Canon of the 
Colorado, secured them, and the other paintings in the rotunda, for this vol- 
ume in July, 1897, by a secret process. 

Declaration of Independence. — Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Living- 
ston and Sherman, the committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, reported it to the Continental Congress as Jefferson had written it. 



The National Capitol 113 

It was adopted, after a few amendments, on July 4, 1776, by the vote of every 
Colony, though not engrossed and signed until the 2d of August. The picture 
recalls the words of John Adams : " I am well aware of the toil, and blood, 
and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and 
defend these States. Yet, through all this gloom, I can see the rays of rav- 
ishing light and glory." John Hancock, the President, sits at the table, and 
before him stand the committee. The artist found it more effective to rep- 
resent the whole committee advancing to make their report than to have the 
chairman only, as is the custom, arise for the purpose. 

"The room," writes Trumbull, " is copied from that in which Congress 
held their sessions at the time, such as it was before the spirit of innovation 
laid unhallowed hands upon it, and violated its venerable walls by modern 
improvement, as it is called." The costumes are those of the period. By 
Adams' and Jefferson's advice the signatures on the original instrument, 
which is preserved in the library of the Department of State, were used as a 
guide to those who were present. 

The painting was planned at Jefferson's home in Paris, where the artist 
had the assistance of the Minister's information and advice ; and there, in 
the autumn of 1787, he " painted the portrait of Mr. Jefferson in the original 
small Declaration of Independence." Hancock and Samuel Adams were 
painted in Boston, and Edward Rutledge in Charleston, S. C. Trumbull 
writes from London: " I resumed my labors, however, and went on with my 
studies of other subjects of the history of the Revolution, arranged carefully 
the composition for the Declaration of Independence, and prepared it for 
receiving the portraits, as I might meet with the distinguished men, who were 
present at that illustrious scene. In the course of the summer of 1787, Mr. 
Adams took leave of the court of St. James, and preparatory to the voyage 
to America, had the powder combed out of his hair. Its color and natural 
curl were beautiful, and I took that opportunity to paint his portrait in the 
small Declaration of Independence." 

Surrender of General Burg-oyne. — Following the brilliant charge 
of Arnold on October 7, 1777, Burgoyne fell back upon Saratoga. Here the 
British were surrounded upon all sides; and on the 17th, the entire army of 
nearly 6,000 men, though allowed to march out of their camp with all the 
honors of war, were compelled to lay down their arms and leave their artil- 
lery. " General Burgoyne," writes Wilkinson in his Memoirs, " proposed to 
be introduced to General Gates, and we crossed the Fishkill, and proceeded 
to headquarters on horseback. General Gates, advised of Burgoyne's ap- 
proach, met him at the head of his camp. Burgoyne, in a rich royal uni- 
form, and Gates, in a plain blue frock. When they approached nearly within 
sword's length, they reined up and halted. I then named the gentlemen, and 
General Burgoyne, raising his hat most gracefully, said, ' The fortune of war, 



114 



The National Capitol 



."WASMIIK'dJIMDH IRIESII(GM!:K"(E IEHIS (CdDMMlISSEdDN 
,to CongVess. at Annapolis Md.. Decemb. ^^ 1763. 




I.THOMAS MIFFLIN T^ f^.stJent.'Jturiitr ^r' a'.-.^rrss. 3.CHAS. THOMPSON 1S5iianScrr''>1i>VrejJ 3. £LBRlDGE GERRY ti&asJIfC. 
4 HUGH WILLIAMSON N C. .Ift" 5. SAMUEL OSGOOD Majs. ^Vt\ 6 EDW M9C0MB Vtl.JIC. 7. GEO. PARTRIDGE Mas* JCtf; 
8 EDWARD LLO\0 Md .«C 9 RD SPAIGHT NC M C 10. B EN J. HAWKl N S N C MC U. A FOSTER V U M C 
12 THOMAS JEFFERSON Va.. J/ c 13 ARTHUR LEE Vct-M C K. DAVID HOWELL R I -V C 15 JAMES MONROE Vaujlfr. 
16 JACOB REIO S C .V C. 17 JAMES MADISON Va. Spectat/>r IS WIUIAM ELLERY R.1 ,Wt" 19 J TQWNLEY CHASE TAA.XC. 
20 S. HAROY \'a.^VC 21 CHAS MORRISS Pa. MC 22 General WASHINGTON. 2S Colonel BENJ WALKER ^ui tU Cumjr 
24 Col. DAVID HUMPHFiYS .iii<«<<? awv 2» Cen SMALLWOOD Md 5^ftY.x£i>r 26. Ceai OTHO HOLLAND Wl LLIAMS Md .S>>«ti- 
27 Col SAMUEL SMITH SiA Spectr 2». Col. JOHN E.HOWARD 'B3lumor<:. Sptctr . 29 CHAS CARROLL and t>»x? dMi^/iu^ Ud^ 
30 Mrs WASHINGTON amt far- cJu-ec OnuuLChiOlrfn. 31. DANIEL o£ ST JENNIFER Md Spect,aXor, 



General Gates, has made me your prisoner ' ; to which the conqueror, return- 
ing a courtly salute, promptly replied, ' I shall always be ready to bear testi- 
mony, that it has not been through any fault of your excellency.' " 

"The painting," says Trumbull, " represents General Burgoyne, attended 
by General Phillips, and followed by other officers, arriving near the marquee 
of General Gates. General Gates has advanced a few steps from the entrance, 
to meet his prisoner, who, with Creneral Phillips, has dismounted, and is in 
the act of offering his sword, which General Gates declines to receive, and 
invites them to enter." 

SuiTeHder of Liord Cornwallis. — The surrender of Lord Cornwallis on 
October 19, 1781, was the virtual end of the Revolution. His troops, num- 
bering about 7,073, became " prisoners of war to Congress, and the naval 
force to France." The army was not permitted to march out with colors 
flying; for a like honor had been refused to General Lincoln when he was 
forced to give up Charleston. Washington still further honored that officer 
by directing him to receive the surrender of the royal army. Dr. Thacher, in 
his Military Journal, gives the following word-picture of the ceremony : " At 
about twelve o'clock the combined army was drawn up into two lines more 
than a mile in length, the Americans on the right side of the road, the French 
on their left. Washington, mounted on a noble steed, and attended by his 



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The National Capitol "7 

staff, was in front of the fonnor ; tho C'onnt do Rorhanilx-an and his suite, of 
the hitter. l"he h'reneh troops in i-omi^leto nniforni, and well eiinipped, made 
a brilliant appearanee, and had marehed to the ground with a band of music 
playing, whieh was a novelty in the American service. The American troops, 
but part in unitorui. and all in garments nuieh the worse for wear, yet had a 
spirited, soldier-like air. About two c^'eloek the garrison sallied forth, and 
passed through with shouldered arms, slow and solemn steps, c-oloi-s easeil, 
and drums beating a British march. They were all well elad. having been 
furnished with new suits prior to the capituUition. They \Nere led by Cleneral 
O'Hara on horseback, who. riding up to General Washington, took off his hat 
and apologized for the non-appearance of T.ord Cornwallis, on account of 
indisposition. Washington received him with dignified courtesy, but pointed 
to Major-General lineolnas the officer who was to receive the submission of 
the garrison. 1^\- him thev were conducted into a field where they were to 
oround their arms. In passing through the line formed by the allied army, 
their march was ciueless and irregular, and their aspect sullen, the order to 
* ground arms' was given bv their platoon officer with a tone of deep chagrin, 
and many of the soidiers threw down their muskets with a violence sufficient 
to break 'them. This irregularity was checked by General 1 .incoln ; yet it was 
excusable in brave men in their unfortunate predicament. This eeremony 
over, they were conducted back to Yorktown. to remain under guard until 
removed to their places of destination." 

In the painting, General Lincoln on horseback is conducting the defeated 
army between the two lines of the victors. The entrance to the town is depicted 
in the center, with a glimpse of York River and the Chesapeake Bay. Trum- 
bull specially visited Yorktown to studv the scene. The French officers were 
painted from life at Teft-erson's house in Paris, long before the present picture 
was executed. Trumbull, writing from London about the same time, says: 
" I also made various studTies for the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and in 
this found great difficulty; the scene was altogether one of utter formality— 
the ground was level— military etiquette was to be scrupulously observed, and 
yet the portraits of the principal officers of three proud nations must be 
preserved, without interrupting the general regularity of the scene. I drew 
it over and ONcr again, and at last, having resolved upon the present arrange- 
ment, I prepared the small picture to receive the portraits." 

General AVashiuiitou Kesijiuing liis Coiumissiou.— Washington 
resigned his commission as Commander-in-chief to Congress, then sitting at 
Aniwpolis, Maryland, at noon on December 23, 1783, a public entertainment 
having been given in his honor the day before. General Mifflin, its President, 
responded to his address with reverent courtesy and deep regard. Congress 
remained seated and covered; the vast assembly of spectators, standing and 
uncovered. The consul-general of France, and many of the public function- 



ii8 



The National Capitol 




1. Mr ROBINSON raau-^afcKe ccncirr^jziloru 2 Elder WM BREWSTER. A Mrs BREWSTER an^ suJc thUiL 
4 Gov CARVER 5 WM 6RA0F0BD 6 MriMrs WHITE 7 Mr 4: Mrs. Wl NSLOW. 8. Mr. i; Mrs FULLER. 
9. MILES STANDISH and. his ft/h Hose. 10. Mrs BRADFORD, iA« /"<?« w<57*(7<7r<f the. day-tfU "esSiU came to anchor. 
11 Mrs CARVER «.arf cAiM, 12 Capl KVfHO\.OS ojid SaUor 13 BOY beUmejine} to Cajfer ani, ramify. 
iVSOy incharyeo/'MrWnjlo» 15 80V belon^fOrf. Co Mrv.Winsloivs famiiy. 16. A NURSt and, tJvUet. 



aries of Maryland were present. " Few tragedies ever drew so many tears 
from so many beautiful eyes as the moving manner in which his Excellency 
took his leave from Congress." In the picture, we can almost hear him feel- 
ingly utter -the words of his only surrender : " I have now the honor of offer- 
ing my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before 
them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim 
the indulgence of retiring from the ser\'ice of my country." 

Weir, Vanderlyn, Powell and Cliapniaii Paintings. — By a joint 
resolution of June 23, 1836, a committee was appointed to " contract with 
one or more competent American artists for the execution of four historical 
pictures upon subjects serving to illustrate the discovery of America, the set- 
tlement of the United States, the history of the Revolution, or the adoption 
of the Constitution, to be placed in the vacant panels of the rotunda, the 
selection of the subjects to be left to the choice of the artists under the con- 
trol of the Committee." It was under this authority that the remaining large 
panels of the rotunda were filled with pictures. They are, however, purely 
fanciful, not historical. 

The Embarkation of the Pilg-rinis. — The Embarkation of the Pilgrims 
by Robert Weir affects us with something of the same incongruity which we feel 



The National Capitol 121 

upon reading the words of one of the Pilgrims at starting : " We sang psalms 
and were merry." The picture is gloomy, hard and uninteresting, but com- 
mands the respect of the general public because of its deep religious spirit, 
and of critics because of the clever handling of some of the painting in 
shadow, its general conscientiousness and, in places, its admirable technique. 
It represents the Speedwell on July 22, 1620, just before she set sail from 
Delft Haven for Southampton, to be joined by the Mayflower. The Pilgrims 
had fled from Scrooby, England, in 1608; and now, after years of toil in 
Holland, they are about to seek yet another home, where they may worship 
God as they will. The Speedwell, however, did not reach America. She was 
found to be utterly unseaworthy ; and at Plymouth, England, as many of her 
passengers as possible were transferred to the Mayflower, which then, late in 
September, set sail alone for the New World. 

The Lanclmg- of Columbus. — The Landing of Columbus is the work of 
John Vanderlyn. It is unnatural, feeble in execution and lacking in general 
impressiveness. It purports to represent the landing of the Spaniards on San 
Salvador in 1492. The great Genoese admiral, commanding under the flag 
of Ferdinand and Isabella the Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, takes possession 
of that island-child of the American continents in the fond delusion that he 
has discovered a new way to the East Indies. 

It is hard to believe that this picture is from the brush of the pupil of 
Stuart and Robertson whom Burr honored as his protege and thought the great- 
est American painter. Indeed, Bishop Kip says : " In 1844, I was in Paris, 
and inquiring about the picture, found that it was advancing under the hand 
of a clever French artist whom Vanderlyn had employed. Of course, the con- 
ception and design were his own, but I believe little of the actual work. In 
fact no one familiar with Vanderlyn's early style could ever imagine the 
' Columbus' to be his. Place it by the side of the ' Marius,' and you see 
that they are evidently executed by different artists. The ' Marius ' has the 
dark, severe tone of the old masters ; the ' Landing of Columbus ' is a flashy 
modern French painting." 

The painting of Marius referred to so attracted the attention of Napo- 
leon the Great that, after viewing the other pictures in the exhibition, he 
returned to it and inJiis rapid manner of speech said: " Give the medal to 
that." It is remembered that the emperor wished even to purchase it for 
permanent hanging in the Louvre, but that Vanderlyn patriotically declined, 
preferring to bring his best work to America. 

The Discovery of the Mississippi. — The Discovery of the Mississippi 
was painted by William H. Powell. Some of the drawings for it were made 
in Paris, and it shows unmistakably the influence of French art. It has, 
perhaps, as little claim to historical merit as any picture ever painted, and 
is as purely fanciful in color as in the handling of the theme. The bright 



L 



122 The National Capitol 

armor, gay trappings and prancing horses do not befit that ill-starred expedi- 
tion which, starting from Spain in 1538 six hundred strong, arrived on the 
coast of Mexico in 1543 an enfeebled remnant of less than half that mimber, 
glad to have escaped with life the inhospitable swamps and savages. De 
Soto, in search of the realization of his golden dreams, found only a grave 
beneath the waters of the mighty Western river. 

The picture, however, is remarkably pleasing for its vitality, admirable 
dramatic grouping and buoyancy of effect. It was painted in accordance 
with an act of Congress of 1847, authorizing the library Committee to con- 
tract for an historical picture to take the place of the one which Henry 
Inman, an original contractor, had left unfinished at his untimely death. As 
Inman had already received three instalments of $2,000 each, there were but 
1^4,000 still available on the unexecuted contract ; $6,000 besides were directly 
appropriated to Powell for the present painting. On March 3, 1S55, Powell 
received an additional appropriation of $2,000, making the total cost to the 
government for the adornment of the panel $12,000. 

The Baptism of Pooalioutas. — The Baptism of Pocahontas was painted 
by John G. Chapman. Matoaka, signifying a streamlet between two hills, 
or the " Snow Feather," as her Indian friends delighted to call her, was 
christened Rebecca. " Chapman," says Watterston, " has given what may 
be considered as a true representation of Nantaquaas, the brother of Poca- 
hontas, whom Captain Smith seems to have regarded as the very />eau ideal of 
manly beauty. The sister of Pocahontas is seated on the floor, with her child 
clinging to her, while Opechankanough, also seated in the Indian fashion, 
scowls at the ceremony with deep malignity and ferocity. Rolfe, the husband 
of Pocahontas, stands behind her. Sir Thomas Dale, in the martial costume 
of the age, stands on the right of the officiating clergyman, Whitaker, and his 
standard bearer and page near him." 

Though the light-effect on the two principal figures pleasingly catches the 
passing eye, and though the picture is most sympathetic to popular fancy, the 
whole as a work of art is unworthy of serious criticism. The subject, too, is 
not sufliiciently important to warrant the conspicuous hanging. The scene is 
laid in Virginia just prior to the marriage of this daughter of Powhatan in 
April, 1613. During the absence of John Smith, Captain Argall had bribed 
Japazaws to betray Pocahontas into his hands. While on shipboard, she had 
fallen in love with an Englishman, John Rolfe, in whose country she died four 
years later. Their union brought about a peace of many years with the Indians 
around Jamestown. ~^— - - 

Rilievos. — The arabesques above the paintings are adorned with sculp- 
tured portraits, by Capellano and Causici, of Columbus, Raleigh, Cabot and 
La Salle. These with their wreath-work adornment, executed in iS::;, cost 
$9,500. 



The National Capitol 125 

In the contracted panels over the doors leading from the rotunda toward 
the four points of the compass are decorative designs in demi-relief, which 
are disgraceful disfigurements of the room and valuable only for the good- 
natured smile which they inevitably provoke from the most melancholy spec- 
tator. The government paid ^14,000 for these unique decorations. Above 
the northern exit, Gevelot has presumably represented William Penn making 
his famous treaty with the Indians. The remarkable group by Causici above 
the bronze door portrays the landing of the Pilgrims ; while the one over the 
south door, executed by the same artist, shows a hand-to-hand conflict be- 
tween Daniel Boone and two Indians. The similar decorative panel above 
the western entrance is by Capellano, and represents Pocahontas saving the 
life of Captain John Smith. 

The effect of these grotesque figures, crowded out of proportion by the 
contracted panels, was amusingly satirized by Mr. Wise on the floor of the 
House at the time of his tirade upon Gree-nough's " naked statue of George 
Washington." Mr. Wise said that " there was scarce one of the specimens of 
sculpture or painting in the rotundo which had not been dubbed with some 
disgraceful epithet, or been made the subject of some pungent criticism. 
The Indians when looking at the representations of their fellow aborigines, 
had observed, with much caustic shrewdness, that the first, over the door of 
the entrance, represented the old world coming to the new, and the new wel- 
coming the old, and giving it corn ; but in the next was the representation of 
a treaty, in which the white man cheated the Indian ! Then came Smith 
saved by Pocahontas from death ; and in the very next panel was Boone 
murdering two Indians ! ' We give you corn, you cheat us of our lands ; we 
save your life, you take ours.' A pretty faithful history of our dealing with 
the native tribes ! Then as to the painting of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, everybody remembered John Randolph's nickname of ' the shin-piece.' 
And who could forget the bitter criticism of Purges, on the representation of 
Boone, ' That it very truly represented our dealing with the Indians, for we 
had not left them even a space to die upon.' (The whole ground in that panel 
being occupied by the body of the Indian already dispatched, so that when the 
other fell he must lie on the body of his countryman.) " 

The President's Secretary. — In April, 1828, John Adams, the secre- 
tary and messenger of John Quincy Adams, was charged with the delivery of a 
Message to each House of Congress. Whilst passing from the Hall of Rep- 
resentatives, after delivering his Message to that body, to the Senate Cham- 
ber, he was waylaid and assaulted in the rotunda by Russell Jarvis in the pres- 
ence of a Member of the House, who interposed and separated the parties. 
The President notified the Senate of the assault ; but, though a resolution was 
introduced declaring it a contempt, that body adjourned sine die without 
taking action. 



r' 

/ 

126 The National Capitol 

Remains in State. Lincoln. — Booth shot Lincoln a few minutes after 
ten o'clock on the evening of Good Friday, April 14, 1865. The President 
passed away the next day in a private house opposite Ford's Theater, where 
the tragedy occurred. The funeral ceremony proper was held in the East 
Room of the White House, April 19th, after which, at two o'clock in the 
afternoon, the procession started for the Capitol, amidst tolling of bells, 
firing of cannon and general mourning. The cortege slowly ascended the hill 
to the north of the Capitol, entered the great gates and proceeded to the cen- 
tral eastern stairway, where it halted. The casket of the dead President was 
borne up the steps, beneath the very spot where six weeks before he had de- 
livered his second inaugural. The remains were lovingly laid in state on a 
simple bier, draped in black, in the center of the rotunda, beneath the fres- 
coed canopy. The hall itself was hung with mournful trappings. A second 
service was then read ; and the procession dispersed, leaving the sacred remains 
guarded by officers with drawn swords. Night closed in, and the little jets 
concealed in the upper dome cast mysterious reflections through the great hall 
of the Capitol. All was hushed; for the chieftain slept! The body lay in 
state throughout the following day, when thousands paid their tearful homage 
to the spot. Before seven o'clock on the morning of the 21st, the little box, 
which held so much that the people loved and honored, was escorted to the 
Baltimore and Ohio station to be given back to the State which proudly and 
sadly claimed it, Lieutenant-General Grant closely following the casket of his 
peace-loving commander-in-chief whose fortunes strangely had been cast in 
the midst of war. 

Stevens. — The mortal remains of Thaddeus Stevens were placed in state 
beneath the canopy on the 13th of August, 1868. The bier which supported 
the casket was the same used for Lincoln, newly covered, however, with black 
cloth, "as the old cloth," records the Star, "was destroyed by the recent 
explosion at the Capitol. . The catafalque is erected immediately in front of 
Ellicott's statue of Lincoln in the rotunda. The face of the statue towards 
the coffin." The Butler Zouaves formed the guard of honor. A large num- 
ber of persons paid tribute to the dead, among whom were noticeable throngs 
of colored people, some deeply affected. At nine o'clock on the morning of 
the 14th, appropriate services were held, also in the rotunda, after which the 
casket was borne away. 

Garfielcl. — Late in the afternoon of September 21, 1881, the plateau to 
the east of the Capitol was massed with military organizations. The officers 
of the army and navy were drawn up in two lines leading to the foot of the 
grand central steps, which were crowded with people save where a passage- 
way had been kept open to the bronze doors. The grounds were crowded 
with spectators, but all was as still as night. Before the steps was a hearse 
drawn by six magnificent gray horses. A rich casket was dislodged and 



The National Capitol 129 

borne slowly up the steps, accompanied by the reception committee, President 
Arthur and members of the Cabinet, and by legislators and justices of the 
highest court of the government. The Marine Band played its saddest dirge. 
The casket was placed tenderly on the bier, and a second martyred President 
slept in the rotunda of the Capitol. For a moment the assemblage stood in 
silence. Then the panel was removed, and the familiar face, emaciated with 
long suffering, lay open to view. But where were the eloquent lips trembling 
with the emotion of fiery debate, where the full cheek, where the intellectual 
brow, where the bright eyes whose last intelligent gaze had been upon the 
boundless sea at Elberon ? Even General Grant, whose duty it had been to 
gaze carelessly on death, was affected by the scene. A guard of honor was left 
to watch the casket. 

On the morning of the 22d, the public were permitted to pay their tribute, 
and during that day thousands passed in at the eastern door and out at the 
western, some even ascending the dome to see the great number of mournful 
citizens in the rotunda and the long line outside the Capitol, stretching to 
Second Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, each awaiting his turn to pass the 
casket. It is supposed that 40,000 persons so paid their tribute. The rotunda 
was draped in mourning. Exquisite floral decorations surrounded the bier. 
One massive wreath attracted the greatest attention. It came from the Brit- 
ish Embassy at the express command of the Queen. On a card were the words : 
" Queen Victoria, to the memory of the late President Garfield. An expres- 
sion of her sorrow and sympathy with Mrs. Garfield and the American nation. 
September 22, 1881." At half-past six in the evening, by order of Secretary 
Blaine, supposedly at Mrs. Garfield's request, the late President's face was 
closed to view. Even this did not stay the interest of the public; during the 
next morning, thousands passed the closed casket. 

On the morning of the 23d, Mrs. Garfield, accompanied by her daughter 
Mollie, her son Harry, Colonel and Mrs. Rockwell, General Swaim and 
Attorney-General and Mrs. MacVeagh, drove to the Senate wing and repaired 
to the President's room. Sergeant-at-Arms Bright was immediately sum- 
moned; and at Mrs. Garfield's request, the guard retired from the rotunda, 
and all its entrances were closed. At half-past eleven, the bereaved widow 
passed through the north door and knelt by the mortal remains of the Presi- 
dent. The walls of the rotunda only can tell of that farewell ! 

At noon, by Mrs. Garfield's request. General Swaim and Colonel Rockwell, 
the devoted friends and faithful nurses of the departed, closed and locked 
for the last time the casket-lid. That afternoon, ser\ices were held in the 
presence of a most distinguished gathering. The veterans of the Army of the 
Cumberland were the first to enter the rotunda. The officers of the army and 
navy wore crape upon their sleeves and sword hilts. The Chief Justice and 
Associate Justices Miller, Harlan and Matthews were present, wearing their 
9 



13° The National Capitol 

official robes. From the south wing came the members and officers of the 
House. From the north wing came the Senate, accompanied by the Cabinet 
and ex-Yice-Presidents Hamlin and Wheeler. In advance were ex-Presidents 
Grant and Haves, with President Arthur on the arm of Secretary Blaine. 
The last two sat at the west end of the semi-circle directly opposite the ex- 
Presidents. Seats in the front row were reserved for the Cabinet also and for 
members of the family. The officiating clergymen and the philharmonic 
societies were grouped about the head of the casket. As the first notes of 
the hymn " Asleep in Jesus " were sung, the guard of honor quietly withdrew, 
leaving the bodv to the offices of the Church. Scripture was read by Rev. Dr. 
Rankin. This was followed by the prayer of Elder Isaac Errett of Cincin- 
nati. Rev. F. D. Poweres, of Vermont Avenue Christian Church, of which 
Garfield was a member, then preached the funeral sermon, after which another 
prayer was oftered by Rev. J. G. Butler. As the casket was borne down the 
steps of the Capitol, a beautiful rainbow was clearly visible against the dark, 
cloud-swept sky. ^^'hat did it portend ? 

Log-aii. — On Thursday, December 30, 1S86, the mortal remains of John 
A. Logan, the brave, were conveyed to the Capitol from his fine old home, 
Calumet Place, where he had at last surrendered. The casket, wrapped in 
the American flag, was laid in state in the rotunda upon the bier which had 
served a similar purpose for the remains of Lincoln, Garfield, Chase, Sumner 
and Stevens. During the afternoon and night and until eleven o'clock on 
Fridav, thousands of persons viewed the remains of the dead Senator, general 
and patriot. At half-past eleven, the casket was tenderly borne to the Sen- 
ate Chamber, where appropriate funeral services were held. Justices of the 
Supreme Court, Senators, Representatives and members of the Cabinet and 
diplomatic corps were in attendance. Seats immediately in front of the 
casket were reser\ed for jSfrs. Logan and others of the family. Rev. Dr. John 
P. Newman, Chaplain Butler of the Senate, Bishop Andrews and Rev. Dr. 
Tiffanv were the officiating clergymen. The ceremony was impressive. 
Fragrant flowers with endearing mottoes, the contribution of friends and 
comrades throughout the country, occupied all tlie available space around the 
casket. Rev. Dr. Newman preached an eloquent fimeral sermon. 

Midnig-ht in the Kotnuda. — At midnight in the rotunda, the step of 
the traverser grows stealthy, and he speaks in whispers. The historic walls, 
which so oft have looked upon the dead, answer step and voice in hollow 
accents until the belated visitor finds himself looking fearfully for some 
demon — some spirit — to leap up in his path, or drop leopard-like from above. 
Behind each arch lurks, then, the Quasimodo of the Capitol. Can the spirit 
which Victor Hugo conjured up for Notre-Dame have sought refuge among 
the secret passages of the dome ? Is Quasimodo alive ; and does he now 
unsuspected lurk in and defend the might\' precincts of the Capitol as 



The National Capitol " i33 

he once hovered about and defended Notre-Dame ? Who knows ? Who 
knows ? 

" Egypt would have taken him for a God of this temple ; the Middle Ages believed 
him to be its demon ; he was in fact its soul. So much was this the case that to those who 
know that Quasimodo has existed, Notre-Dame is now solitary, inanimate, dead. They 
feel that something has disappeared. That vast body is empty — it is a skeleton — the spirit 
has quitted it— they see the place thereof, but that is all. It is like a skull, which still has 
holes for the eyes, but no eyesight." 



THE CONQRESSIONAL LIBRARY 




The rooms which, 
until July 31, 1897, 
were occupied by the 
Congressional Library 
are upon the main 
floor, on the west front 
of the central build- 
ing. The four col- 
umns to the right and 
left of the entrance 
door are worthy of 
passing notice, be- 
cause of their Ameri- 
canized capitals. 
The principal hall, 
running due north and south, is 91 feet 6 inches in length by 34 feet in width. 
At each end runs, at right angles, a wing 90 feet 6 inches in length by 29 
feet 6 inches in width. All three have the same height, 38 feet. 

The walls, alcoves, stairways, aisles and balconies of these rooms were 
formerly almost a solid mass of books, manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals 
and prints. Many of these were secured to the Library by exchange, gift and 
purchase under a small annual appropriation, but more through the provision 
of the copyright law which compels as a condition of its fulfillment the de- 
positing of two copies of each copyrighted work in the Library of Congress. 
Under this alone, 55,906 publications of various kinds were added during the 
year 1896. 

This wonderful collection of books, now in the new Library building, 
took its rise in a small appropriation of ^5,000, made April 24, 1800, for 
fitting up a room with books for the use of Congress. The joint committee 
appointed to make the purchase selected for the Library room the chamber 
in the old north wing which had been occupied by the Representatives during 
the last session of the Sixth Congress. Inspired with unusual governmental 
economy, they recommended that the Secretary of the Senate be directed to 
sell the trunks in which the books had been imported. John Beckley of 
Virginia was the first Librarian. He was appointed by President Jefferson 



The National Capitol 135 

January 26, 1S02, at a salary " not to exceed $2 per diem for every day of 
necessary attendance." In the following April, the first catalogue of the 
Library was issued. It credits the collection in an old-fashioned way with 
7 duodecimos, 581 octavos, 164 quartos, 212 folios and 9 maps. 

In 1814, the Library, which had then considerably grown in proportions, 
was destroyed by the burning of the Capitol by the British ; an ill return for 
the purchase in London of a majority of the volumes. The soldiers glee- 
fully used the books as fuel with which to ignite the building. On the loth 
of the following October, the loss of the Library being sorely felt, Mr. 
Goldsborough, chairman of the Joint Library Committee of Congress, brought 
to the attention of the Senate a letter from ex-President Jefferson, written at 
Monticello, September 21, 1814, in which he said: 

" I learn from the newspapers that the vandalism of our enemy has triumphed at Wash- 
ington, over science as well as the arts, by the destruction of the public library, with the 
noble edifice in which it was deposited. . . .1 presume it will be among the early 
objects of Congress to re-commence their collection. This will be difficult while the war 
continues, and intercourse with Europe is attended with so much risk. You know my 
collection, its condition and extent. I have been fifty years making it, and have spared no 
pains, opportunity or expense, to make it what it now is. While residing in Paris, I devoted 
every afternoon I was disengaged, for a Summer or two, in examining all the principal book- 
stores, turning over every book with my own hands, and putting by everything which related 
to America, and, indeed, whatever was rare and valuable in every science ; besides this, I 
had standing orders, during the whole time I was in Europe, in its principal book marts, 
principally Amsterdam, Frankfort, Madrid, and London, for such works relating to America 
as could not be found in Paris. So that in that department, particularly, such a collection 
was made as probably can never again be effected ; because it is hardly probable that the 
same opportunities, the same time, industry, perseverance, and expense, with some knowl- 
edge of the bibliography of the subject would again happen to be in concurrence. During 
the same period, and after my return to America, I was led to procure also whatever related 
to the duties of those in the highest concerns of the nation ; so that the collection, which I 
suppose is of between nine and ten thousand volumes, while it includes what is chiefly valu- 
able in science and literature generally, extends more particularly to whatever belongs to the 
American statesmen ; in the diplomatic and parliamentary branches, it is particularly full. 
It is long since I have been sensible it ought not to continue private property, and had pro- 
vided that, at my death, Congress should have the refusal of it, at their own price ; but the 
loss they have now incurred makes the present the proper moment for their accommodation, 
without regard to the small remnant of time and the barren use of my enjoying it. I ask of 
your friendship, therefore, to make for me the tender of it to the Library Committee of Con- 
gress, not knowing myself of whom the Committee consists. ... I should be willing, 
indeed, to retain a few of the books to amuse the time I have yet to pass, which might be 
valued with the rest, but not included in the sum of valuation until they should be restored 
at my death, which I would cheerfully provide for, so that the whole library, as it stands in 
the catalogue, should be theirs, without any garbling." 

The Senate passed a resolution authorizing the Libran,^ Committee to con- 
tract for this purchase; but when the resolution reached the House, it occa- 



136 The National Capitol 

sioned considerable debate. The objections raised were, in general, the 
extent of the library, its cost and the nature of many of Jefferson's selec- 
tions. The narrowness of some members led them to criticise the purchase 
on the groimd that the library' contained a few books of a skeptical character, 
notably the works of Voltaire. The bias of one Representative, whose high 
sense of morality evidently was willing to sacrifice the everlasting blessedness 
of the "sage of Monticello " for the good of Congressmen in general, led 
him to " move to re-commit the bill to a select committee, with instructions 
to report a new section authorizing the Library Committee, as soon as said 
library shall be received at Washington, to select therefrom all books of an 
atheistical, irreligious, and immoral tendency, if any siich there be, and send 
the same back to Mr. Jefferson without any expense to him " ; but this motion 
the gentleman afterwards thought proper to withdraw. On January 26, 1815, 
the final question was decided in the House in the affirmative by a vote of 81 
to 71. Webster, for some reason, spoke and voted against it; Calhoun voted 
for it. The Jefferson collection, numbering about 6,700 volumes, was 
accordingly purchased. It cost $23,950, and forms the nucleus of the pres- 
ent Library. The old room had not yet been restored, however, after the fire ; 
and it was four years before the Joint Library Committee was authorized to fit 
up and furnish suitable accommodations, again in the north wing, and to move 
the collection into the Capitol. 

Writing in 1S42 of the Library room in the central building. Librarian 
Watterston says it " consists of twelve alcoves, supporting two galleries nm- 
ning along the whole length of the apartment from north to south, and con- 
taining the same number of recesses as alcoves in the lower room. The 
arched alcoves are ornamented in front by fluted pilasters, copied from the 
pillars in the temple of Lysicrates at Athens.. Two columns of freestone, the 
capitals like those of the pilasters, support the gallery near the main entrance, 
and two corresponding columns stand near the window which leads into the 
/i^£gc'ii or western colonnade, extending the whole length of the apartment. 
Each end of the room, as well as the ceiling, is richly decorated with stucco 
ornaments and three wells or sky lights, the wells of which, also richlv orna- 
mented, admit the light from above. A large room on the south, connected 
with this apartment, contains an extensive and valuable collection of law 
books exclusively, and a room adjoining it is used by the Judiciarv^ commit- 
tee. The library room was designed by Mr. C. Bulfinch, then architect of the 
public Buildings, and does great credit to his taste. 

" Several presents have been made to the librar}^ since its origin. Among 
these is a splendid and valuable collection of medals, designed by M. Denon, 
and executed by order of the French Government. The series commences 
in 1796 and ends in 1S15, and embraces all the battles and events which 
occurred during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. These are beautifully 



The National Capitol i37 

executed, and arranged with a small collection of American medals in Paris- 
ian bron/.e, in neat cases on either side of the mantlepicce, at the Sfjuth end 
of the room. All of these were presented by Mr. Irving, the Ijrother, it is 
said, of (ieorge W. Irving, who obtained them while in Paris, at considerable 
difficulty, and at a cost of five thousand francs. 

" An original likeness of Christopher Columbus, presented by Mr. liarrell, 
American consul at Madrid,''' and foimd by him in an old castle in Spain, is 
hung up on the south end of the room. Marble busts of Washington, Jeffer- 
son, Lafayette, Judge Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, and plaster 
busts of Jackson and Moultrie, and a medallion of Madison, most of them 
standing on pedestals, are jjlaced in different parts of the room." 

Another fire, on December 24, 1851, destroyed over three-fifths of the 
entire Library, which at that time numbered about 55,000 volumes. The 
Inkllii^enccr of the next day says : " l^esides the books, a number of superior 
paintings, hanging around the Library walls and between the alcoves, were 
included in the destruction. Of these we can call to mind Stuart's paintings 
of the first five Presidents ; an original portrait of Columbus; a second por- 
trait of Columbus; an original portrait of Peyton Randolph; a portrait of 
Bolivar; a portrait of Baron Steuben by Pyne, an English artist of merit; 
one of Baron De Kalb ; one of Cortex ; one of Judge Hanson, of Maryland, 
presented to the Library by his family. Between eleven and twelve hundred 
bronze medals of the Vattemare exchange, some of them more than ten cen- 
turies old, and exceedingly perfect, are amongst the valuables destroyed. Of 
the statuary burnt and rendered worthless, we recollect a statue of Jefferson ; 
an Apollo in bronze by Mills ; a very superior bronze likeness of Washington ; 
a bust of Gen. Taylor by an Italian artist; and a bust of Lafayette by 
David." The year following this second conflagration, a lump appropriation 
of $75,000 was made to replenish the collection. In 1853, according to plans 
of Walter, whom Clark assisted in the execution, the room was remodeled 
and rendered as fire-proof as possible, with iron cases and iron ceilings, and 
the books replaced. The wings were later added from space previously 
devoted to committee rooms. 

The library of copyright books, formerly kept in the Patent Office, was 
removed to the Capitol in 1870, when the Librarian was made Registrar of 
Copyrights. Besides the recruiting of the Library in this way and by the 
regular appropriations of Congress, which have lately averaged about $11,000 
a year, the most extensive additions to the Library have been the 45,000 
books, mostly scientific, belonging to the Smithsonian Institution; later con- 
tributions from the same institution, which it had received by means of ex- 
change from scientific men and societies throughout the world; and many 

* G. G. Barrell was Consul at Mahii^a from 1818 to 1838, when he died. 



13S The National Capitol 

thous;uids of voUuwos. principally relating to Anrorioan histor\-, ]iurchased 
from Peter Fon^e tor the sum of ;$ioo,,ooo. Dr. Joseph ]M. Toner, of ^^'ash- 
ington City, in 188:;. generously contributed his private library also, number- 
ing over 27,000 volumes, and nearly as many pamphlets, which, especially for 
its rare Washingtotiiana. is considered a valuable acquisition to the govern- 
ment collection. 

The growth of the Congressional Libran' was most marked during the reign 
of Ainsworth Rand Spofford* of Cincinnati, who was appointed Librarian in 
1864 by President Lincoln after a ser^■ice of three years as assistant. At 
the time of its removal, it was supposed to number in the neighborhood of 
755,000 volumes, besides a collection of many thousands of pamphlets, maps, 
photographs, etchings and music, making it the sixth library in size in the 
world. The Library j^ossesses, besides, a rich collection of engravings, 
illustrated works and art treasures ; and its files of bound newspapers and 
periodicals, both foreign and American, are a mine of wealth for those who 
desire to read the diary of the world. A large proportion of such vohuues 
were necessarily stored in the crA-pt and adjacent rooms until the completion 
of the new building, when the temporary storerooms, which much disfigured 
the crypt, were torn away, ag'ain opening to view its forty columns. 

While primarily for the use of Congress, c\cn the justices of the Supreme 
Court not having the privilege of the books conferred upon them until 181.:, 
the entire collection was, previous to July, 1807. as it is now, a reference library 
for the public as well. Bet\\-een the hours of nine and four, daily except 
Sunday, and imtil the hour of adjournment during the session of either bmnch 
of Congress, any person may consult the books, and, in some instances, take 
them from the Library-, upon making a reasonable deposit to insure their 
replacement in case of loss. Such deposit is not required, however, from 
Senators or Representatives, nor from about thirty other officials of the gov- 
ernment. 

The necessity for a i\ew building for the Library was first formally sug- 
gested to Congress in a report made by the Librarian in 1S72. For fourteen 
years, however, nothing definite was done by Congress, though ISlr. SpotTord 
says "various schemes for continuing the library within the Capitol wore 
brought forwani. One was to extend the west front of the edifice one hun- 
dred feet, to hold the books ; another, to project the eastern front two hundred 
and fifty feet, thus making a conglomerate building out of what is now a 
purelv classic edifice; a third, and more preposterous scheme, was to accom- 
modate the Library growth within the great inner concave of the dome, which 

* The list of Librarians, not above mentioned, with the dates of their appointments, is 
as follows : Patrick Magruder. 1S07 ; George Watterston, 1S15 ; John S. Meehan, 1S29 ; 
John Ci. Stephenson, 1S61 ; John Russell Young, 1S97. 



The National Capitol i.39 

was to l)c lilcrally honeycombed with books from the floor of the rotunda to 
the ajjcx : a jjlan which would have given space for only twelve years' growth 
of the J,il)rary, l)esides increasing incalculably all the difficulties of its 
administration, livery plan for enlarging the Capitol would have provided 
for less than thirty years' increase, after which Congress would be confronted 
with the same problem again, and forced to erect a new building after all 
the cost (estimated at four millions of dollars) of such enlargement. At 
length a commission of architects reported against disturbing the symmetry of 
the Cajjitol, and that elusive spectre was laid to rest. ... At length all 
differences between Senate and House were harmonized; the act for a separate 
liuilding received over two-thirds majority in 1886; a site of ten acres was 
purchased on a plateau near the Capitol for ^585,000, thus providing for an 
ample and thoroughly equipped edifice, with ultimate accommodations for 
four and one-half millions of volumes." To-day, after the lapse of twenty- 
five years, the new building, the most palacious edifice in the world, may be 
called completed, and there the books and works of art have found a per- 
manent home where they all can be enjoyed. 

l""rom the west portico of the central building, which is accessible through 
the former Library hall, an extensive view may be had of the growth of the 
city, westward, of the chain of parkings extending to the monument and White 
ITouse, and of the surrounding hills and country. This view should not be 
lost, especially by those who have not the strength to ascend the dome. 



SUPREISn-: COl'RT CHAMBER 




^1^ .^^'^^^^^^ 



To tho north of the rotunda is a light- 
well, evidently modeled after some Grecian 
temple. Its curious ''tobacco capitals" 
were designed by Latrobe from the flowers 
and leaves of the native plant. To the 
east is a vestibule from which is accessible 
the office of the Marshal of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, affording a side 
entrance to the Court room itself. 

Court Kooiu.-i- Beyond this, and on 
the east side of the main corridor run- 
ning to the north or Senate wing, is the 
door to the Supreme Court chamber, which, 
except for a short period, was occupied 
• by the Senate from 1800 until 1S14, and 
again, after the restoration, until Januarv 
4, 1S50, when the Senators moved into 
their present hall. It was first occupied 
bv the Supreme Court in December, 1S60.N 

This semi-circular chamber is 75 feet 
in length, 45 feet in width and the same 
in height. The small gallery to the east, which was the only one preser\-ed 
after the removal of the Senate, is supported by columns of dark, variegated 
Potomac marble, whose Ionic capitals, modeled after those in the Temple 
of ]\[iner\a, are chiseled from Italian blocks. It was Latrobe's design 
" moreover," says Watterston, " to support one of the galleries of the Senate 
chamber with emblematic figures of the old Thirteen States, decorated with 
their peculiar insignia, and the models were actually prepared by one of the 
Italian artists whom he had engaged to come to this country; but a neglect 
or refusal on the part of Congress to make the necessary appropriations 
defeated his designs, and the plaster models were afterwards thrown aside 
and destroyed. ' ' 

Beneath the gallerv are four mantles. The two in the center, which are of 
white marble, are carved in bas-relief. They are designed to illustrate the 
idea that in union there is strength. On the one mantle, Hercules tries in 





The National Capitol 141 

vain to break a bundle of fasees bound in l)onds of harmony ; on the other, 
laughini; chihhen snap in twain the single rods unbound. In cold weather, 
logs burn Itrightly in the fire-plaees to the north and south, behind the dark 
red ilrai)eries, during each session, the justices, one at a time, are served with 
a light repast. They sit upon the bench before the Ionic pillars, T.ord 
Chief Justice Coleridge of ICngland, wlio visited tiiis country in iSS^, is the 
only person remembered to have been honored with the courtesy of a seat 
with the Court. Mr. Justice Miller, the senior associate justice, vacated his 
chair in favor of the learned visitor. 

'The ceremony of opening the Coiut is impressive from its very simplicity. 
As She justices enter, the crier announces : " The Honorable the Chief Justice 
and the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the Ignited States." The 
attending lawyers and sjiectators respectfully stanil until the Court is seated, 
when the crier continues: " Oyez, oyez, oyez ! All persons having business 
before the Honorable the Supreme Court of the United States are admonished 
to draw near anil give their attention; for the Court is now sitting, (lod 
save the United States and this Honorable Court." An adjournment of this 
august tribiuial is announcetl in these words: ''This Honorable Court is now 
adjourned until to-morrow at twelve o'clock." ] 

The space within the semi-circular railing is reserved for members of the 
bar of the Supreme Court; the table in the center for the attorney who is 
addressing the Court. Any lauyer, after three years of practice in the highest 
court of his State, may be admitted upon motion. \'isitors sit upon the cush- 
ioned benches between the railing and the wall. 

TIk' Court. — The Supreme Court of the United States is the only court 
established directly by the Constitution. The justices, as we commonly sav, 
are appointed for life or, in the more exact words of that great instrument, 
"hold their offices during good behaviour." They are nominated by the 
President, and appointeil by him u])on the confirmation of the Senate. The 
Supreme Court was organized in September, 17S9. Of the loS years of its 
existence, John ^[arshall and Roger B. Taney served, as Chief Justices, a 
combined period of over 64 years, or nearly two-thirds of the life of the Court. 

The first Chief Justice resigned in 1794 to become Envoy Extraordinary 
to England, and six years later, when Governor of New York, declined a re- 
appointiiient after confirmation, because he was " not perfectly convinced that 
under a system so defective it would obtain the energA-, weight and dignity 
which were essential to its affording due support to the National Government, 
nor acquire the public confidence and respect which, as the last resort of the 
justice of the nation, it should possess." To more fully understand how little 
attractive, in the eyes of the fathers of the nation, was a seat in this highest 
court of the judicial branch of the government, we have but to remember 
also that, prior to 1800, ^\'illiam Cushing, an associate justice, declined an 



M- The National Capitol 

appointment as Chief Justice ; that Oliver Kllsworth resigned as Chief Justice 
to proceeii as Minister to France ; and that John Kutledge, John BUxir, Robert 
H. Harrison. Thomas Johnson and Alfred Moore all resigned as associate 
justices — two, Rutkxlge and Harrison, to become Chief Justices of their re- 
spective States of South Carolina and Maryland. 

iThe last sitting of the Supreme Court in Philadelphia was on Friday, 
Avi|;ust 15. 1800. The ne-\t entry in the records of the Court is : '* At the 
Supreme Court of the Cnited States holden in the City of Washington (the 
same being the seat of the national Government) on the first Monday being 
the 3d day of Februar\\ a.d. tSoi, and of our Independence the twenty- 
fifth.'" William Cushing was the only justice present and adjourned to the 
morrv>w ; and then ag"ain to the 4th. C>n that day Samuel Chase and Bxishrod 
Washington appeared, and John Marshall was present to qualify as I'hief 
Justice and take his seat. / 

The Court now consists of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices. 
The associate justices receive an annual salary each of ^lo.ooo, and the Chief 
Jiistice of $10,500. The associate jxistice who has been longest in service 
ujx»n this bench sits upon the Chief Justice's right, the next in seniority upon 
his left, and the others alternate in like manner. The present members of the 
Court are : 

Chief Justice 
McKenna White Brown Harlan Fuller Brewer Shiras Beckham Holmes 

Flach of the justices is robed in a black silk gown. There is some author- 
ity to show, however, that, at the earlier sittings of the Court, a tri-cc^lored 
scarf, probably occasioned by the French cnue, was sometimes worn ; and in 
the picture of John Jay on the walls of the robing room, the gx">wn itself has 
a border of brick-revl, the sleeves being almost entirely of that color. 

Benjamin Harrison thus comments upon the custom of the Court in wear- 
ing g-owns : "When the coiistitutional organization of the Coxn-t had been 
settled and the high duty of selecting the Jvistices had been performed by 
A\"ashington, the smaller, but not wholly unimportant, question of a court 
dress loomed up, and nwch agitated and divided the minds of our public 
men. Shall the Jxistices wear gowns ? And if yea, the gown of the scholar, 
of the Roman Senator, or of the priest ? Shall they wear the wig of the 
English Judg-es ? JetTerson and Hamilton, who had differevi so widely in their 
views as to the frame of the Constitution, were again in opposition upon these 
questions relating to millinery and hair-dressing. Jefferson w-as ag^^inst any 
needless official apparel, but if the gown was to c;\rr\- he said : ' For Heaven's 
sake discard the monstrous wig which makes the English Judges look like rats 
peeping through bunches of oakum.' Hamilton was for the English wig with 
the English gown. Burr was for the English gx>wn, but against the ' inverted 



TIk- N;ili<tii;il (':i|»il()l 



'J.? 



wool :„i( k tciincil :i uii',.' The I'.ii^l i.sli j^owii \v;is lakcii ;iii(l llic \vi^ left, and 
I ,iiu sine lli.il llic lluwiiii; Mack silk gown slill worn hy the In.lucs liclps to 
pli'Sfivr in llu' court kkhh lli.il dis'inlN' and sense <tl solenniily whii li slionlil 
always chitraclcri/r llic \A.\i r ol |iid:',inciil . " 

l>lMrl»l«- ltiiN(s. ( )ii llic liiai Isi'l;, alioiil llic '.cmi < ii< niai walls ate 
ai!an;;cd luistsiil llic loiinci ( liicl Justices. To the Icit, ii|)(in cntcii lii^ the 




sni'KiMi' conur ciiamiuk 



chamluT, ai'c those of jolui |a\, llic fust ('liici |uslicc. In' John l''ra/cc ; ()li\-er 
lOllsworlli, llic lliiid, li\ Allied-; l\o;;cr I'., 'lancw tlic lillli, ]'\- Rincliart ; and 
Morrison W . Wailc, llic sc\cnlli, |iv St. ( laiidi'iis. To the ri,i;lil are simi- 
larly placed those ol John Rullcdi^c, the second ; John Marshall, the lOiirlh ; 
and Salmon I'. ( 'hasc, ihc M\lh. 

When liist the (|iicNt ion ol so honoiin;^ ('hiel |iislice 'I'anev came beiore 
the Senate, liic avcision to the author ol the I )red Scdtl (hsision was still 
intensi". An anli-slaverv leelinj;- to whi< h, no doubt, is due the lact that no 
appropri.iti' funeral cerenionies were held in tlu- Capitol at his dratli — is 
.•i])l)arent in the dchatcs. Mi. Siiiiincr, in anta^oni/int; the purchase of tin* 
nKirblc bust, billctlv asserted that " Tancv' woiihl be hootcil down the |)a,m-s 
of history, ;inil that an cmancipatc(| coimtr\' would li\ upon his name the 



144 The National Capitol 

stigma it deserved. He had administered justice wickedly, had degraded the 
Judiciary, and had degraded the age." Mr. Reverdy Johnson defended the 
Chief Justice's memory, replying tartly: "The Senator from Massachusetts 
will be happy if his name shall stand as high upon the historic page as that 
of the learned Judge who is now no more." Mr. Sumner had the last word. 
He said that in listening to the Maryland Senator he was " reminded of a 
character, known to the Roman church, who always figured at the canoniza- 
tion of a Saint as the Devil's advocate" ; and, carrying out the figure, he 
added, that if it was in his power, " Taney should never be recognized as a 
Saint by any vote of Congress." On February 23, 1865, the bill was aban- 
doned by its advocates as hopeless. On January 29, 1874, however, a bill 
passed the Senate without debate providing for the purchase of the bust of the 
Chief Justice, and at the same time of one of Chase. This occurred about 
a month before the death of Mr. Sumner. Can it be that his bitterness had 
perished? It would seem so; for, on December 2, 1872, he had proposed 
" that the names of battles with fellow-citizens, shall not be continued in 
the army register or placed on the regimental colors of the United States," 
and in the preamble to the bill had stated : " It is contrary to the usage of 
civilized nations to perpetuate the memory of civil war." 

Important Cases. — Perhaps of the cases coming before the Supreme 
Court since it first sat within these walls those which have attracted the 
most popular interest are the series known as the Income Tax Cases, argued in, 
March, 1S95, by Richard Olney, then Attorney General, and associate coun- 
sel on behalf of the government, and by Joseph H. Choate and others on 
behalf of certain New York corporations. The Court, by a vote of five to 
four, finally pronounced the law of Congress, framed for the purpose of col- 
lecting the income tax, unconstitutional. 

!N"otable Events. — This Court room is one of the most historic rooms 
in the Capitol. Here, before its restoration, Thomas Jefferson, the first Presi- 
dent to be inaugurated at the Capitol, delivered his address and took the 
oath of office in the presence of Chief Justice Marshall. John Adams had 
rudely left the city before the ceremonies. He had, however, convened the 
Senate by proclamation, and it met at ten o'clock a.m., when Mr. Hillhouse 
administered the oath to the Vice-President-elect, and he to the new Sena- 
tors. The President-elect entered the chamber accompanied by the Heads 
of Departments, the Marshal of the District, officers and other getitlemen, and 
took the seat usually occupied by the Vice-President. The latter sat upon his 
right ; the Chief Justice upon his left. This inauguration is interesting in 
spite of the fact that the romantic story of the democratic way in which 
Jefferson rode to the Capitol alone, tied his horse to the paling, took the oath 
of office and rode away, has been proven to be a fabrication. In a dispatch 
to Grenville, Foreign Secretary in Pitt's administration, Edward Thornton, 



The National Capitol 145 

who was in charge of the British Legation at Washington, reports officially 
that Jefferson " came from his own lodgings to the house where Congress con- 
venes, and which goes by the name of the Capitol, on foot, in his ordinary 
dress, escorted by a body of militia artillery from the neighboring State, and 
pxcompanied by the Secretaries of the Navy and the Treasury, and a numl)er 
of his political friends in the House of Re]jresentatives." 

Henry Adams, to whose historical research we owe this authority, says that 
"Jefferson was then living as Vice-lVcsident at Conrad's boarding-house, 
within a stone's throw of the Capitol. He did not mount his horse only to 
ride across the square and dismount in a crowd of observers. Only the North 
wing of the Capitol had then been so far completed as to be occupied by the 
Senate, the Courts and the small library of Congress. The centre rose not 
much above its foundations ; and the South wing, some twenty feet in hei"-ht, 
contained a temporary oval brick building, commonly called the 'Oven,' in 
which the House of Representatives * sat in some peril of their lives, for had 
not the walls been strongly shored up from without, the structure would have 
crumbled to pieces. Into the north wing the new President went, accompa- 
nied by the only remaining Secretaries, Dexter and Stoddert, and by his friends 
from the House. Received by Vice-President Burr and Marshall, after a short 
pause, Jefferson rose, and in a somewhat inaudible voice began his Inaugural 
address." 

In the same chamber, at twelve o'clock on March 4, 1805, Congress having 
adjourned the day before, Jefferson delivered his second inaugural and was 
again sworn into office by Marshall, in the presence of both Houses and a 
concourse of citizens. The Chief Justice administered the oath of office to 
George Clinton, also, who had been elected to succeed Burr as Vice-President. 
■ Here, in October, 1803, the Senate confirmed the treaty with Napoleon 
the First, by which we acquired the vast area of territory known as the " Louisi- 
ana Purchase." In the same month. Congress submitted to the Legislatures of 
the several States for ratification the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution. 
The Senate occupied this chamber when war was declared for the second time 
with Great Britain, and later, with Mexico. Hei-e the Senate sat when, on 
December 2, 1823, President Monroe sent to Congress the " Monroe Doc- 
trin^" : " We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations exist- 
ing between the United States and those powers, to declare, that we should 
consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion 
of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." Here, in 
1S30, occurred the famous debate between Webster of Massachusetts and 
Hayne of South Carolina, when the great speech of the Southern advocate 
lost much of its brilliant effect by being overshadowed by a greater. It was 

* The House did not occupy "the oven" until the First Session of the Seventh 
Congress. 

10 



146 The National Capitol 

in the course of this debate that Webster uttered the immortal words : 
" Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." It is so unusual 
as to be worthy of mention that here the Senate, on December 11, 1832, 
elected a Catholic, Rev. Charles Constantine Pise, as its Chaplain. 

Since the chamber has been the home of the Supreme Court, for many days 
in February, 1877, following the approval on January 29th of "An act to 
provide for and regulate the counting of votes for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent, and the decisions of questions arising thereon, for the term commenc- 
ing March 4, a.d. 1877," the Electoral Commission occupied the bench. 
These walls, therefore, virtually first heard the announcement of the election 
of Hayes as President. On this occasion the small gallery was opened for 
the only time since the departure of the Senate. Jury trials have occurred in 
several instances in the Supreme Court, and, no doubt, will occur again in 
cases of original jurisdiction, a fact interesting and not often noted. 

Iiupeacliiiieiits of Pickering- and Chase. — The new Republic was 
not many years of age before the House exercised the right of impeachment 
for high crimes and misdemeanors, given it by the Constitution. In 1803 it 
preferred articles against John Pickering; and he was tried in the old Senate 
Chamber in the next year. The question, " Is the Court of opinion that John 
Pickering be removed from the office of judge of the district court of the dis- 
trict of New Hampshire ?" was submitted to the Senate, sitting as the court, 
on March 12th, and decided in the affirmative by a vote of 20 to 6. 

On the 5th of January, 1804, Mr. J. Randolph, by a speech in the House 
of Representatives, initiated the proceedings which led to the impeachment 
and trial of Samuel Chase, one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. Eight articles of impeachment were found by the House, 
and seven managers selected to conduct the trial on its behalf. The grounds 
of the impeachment were that Samuel Chase had been irregular, arbitrary 
and prejudicial in the conduct of certain trials presided over by him while on 
circuit. The first of these was the trial of John Fries, charged with treason, 
held in the city of Philadelphia during the months of April and May, 1800, 
whereat " Samuel Chase . . . did in his judicial capacity, conduct him- 
self in a manner highly arbitrary, oppressive and unjust." The next was the 
trial in Richmond, in May of the same year, of James Thompson Callender, 
arraigned for libel upon John Adams, then President of the United States. It 
was charged also that, in the trial of a case at Newcastle, Delaware, Chase 
had descended from the dignity of a judge, refused to discharge the grand 
jury and stooped to the level of an informer; and that, in a trial held at Bal- 
timore in May, 1803, he had perverted his official right and duty by addressing 
the grand jury in an intemperate and inflammatory political harangiie with 
intent to incite their fears and resentment, and those of the good people of 
Maryland, against their State government and constitution. 



The National Capitol 147 

Before the day assigned for receiving tiie answer of Chase, this chamber, 
says the rep07't of the trial, "was fitted up in a style of appropriate ele- 
gance. Benches, covered with crimson, on each side, and in a line with the 
chair of the President, were assigned to the members of the Senate. On the 
right and in front of the chair, a box was assigned to the managers, and, on 
the left, a similar box to Mr. Chase, and his counsel, and chairs allotted to 
such friends as he might introduce. The residue of the floor was occupied 
with chairs for the accommodation of the Members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives j and with boxes for the reception of the foreign Ministers, and 
civil and military officers of the United States. On the right and left of the 
chair, at the termination of the benches of the members of the court, boxes 
were assigned to stenographers, the permanent gallery was allotted to the 
indiscriminate admission of spectators. Below this gallery, and above the 
floor of the House, a new gallery was raised, and fitted up with peculiar ele- 
gance, intended, primarily, for the exclusive accommodation of ladies. But 
this feature of the arrangement made by the Vice-President, was at an early 
period of the trial abandoned, it having been found impracticable to sepa- 
rate the sexes ! At the termination of this gallery, on each side, boxes were 
specially assigned to ladies attached to the families of public characters. 
The preservation of order was devolved on the Marshal of the District of 
Columbia, who was assisted by a number of Deputies." 

The trial began on Monday, February 4, 1805. About a quarter before 
ten o'clock, the court was opened by proclamation — all the members of the 
Senate, thirty-four, attending. "The Senate Chamber, which is very exten- 
sive, was soon filled with spectators, a large portion of whom consisted of 
ladies who continued with little intermission to attend during the whole 
course of the trial. Samuel Chase being called to make answer to the articles 
of impeachment . . . appeared attended by Messrs. Harper, Martin 
and Hopkinson, his counsel ; to whom seats were assigned." The trial did 
not end until Friday, March ist, when Aaron Burr, Vice-President during Jef- 
ferson's first administration, arose and said: " It appears that there is not a 
constitutional majority of votes finding Samuel Chase, Esquire, guilty, on any 
one x^rticle. It therefore, becomes my duty to declare that Samuel Chase, 
Esquire, stands acquitted of all the articles exhibited by the House of Repre- 
sentatives against him." It is a curious coincidence that Burr, who presided 
over the impeachment court, was himself not long after tried for treason, and 
acquitted, before John Marshall, who had sat with Chase upon the bench, and 
who, like Burr, was disliked and distrusted by Jefferson. 

Quarrel between Benton and Foote. — A scene occurred in this old 
Senate Chamber on April 17, 1850, which created much excitement at the 
time. Senators Benton and Foote had already had several sharp personal 
altercations in debate. On-this-occasion, while Mr. Foote was replying to Mr. 



14^ The National Capitol 

Benton, the latter started from his seat and approached his opponent, who also 
advanced and took a stand in front of the Secretary's table, at the same time 
drawing and cocking a revolver. The confusion was very great. Senators 
immediately surrounded the combatants, drawing Mr. Benton back to his seat 
and inducing Mr. Foote to surrender his weapon. The committee to whom 
the matter was referred reported, July 30th, that the whole scene was most dis- 
creditable to the Senate; that Mr. Foote had provoked Mr. Benton by bitter 
personal attacks ; that Mr. Benton probably intended either to make a personal 
assault on Mr. Foote or to intimidate him ; and that, while Mr. Foote had no 
intention of assaulting Mr. Benton, there had been imminent danger of blood- 
shed. The committee, however, recommended no action, expressing only 
the hope that its condemnation of the occurrence would be " a sufficient 
rebuke and a warning not unheeded in future." 

Farewells of Calhoun, Clay, Webster. — "Within these walls, the cur- 
tain fell for the last time on the parliamentary careers of the three most 
notable actors yet on the stage of American statesmanship — Calhoun, Clay, 
Webster. A frequent visitor to the Capitol during Jackson's administra- 
tions, S. G. Goodrich, writes : " It was a marked epoch, for Webster, Cal- 
houn, and Clay were then in the Senate. It is seldom that three such men 
appear upon the theatre of action at the same time. They were each distinct 
from the other in person, manners, heart, constitution. . . . They were 
all of remarkable personal appearance : Webster of massive form, dark com- 
plexion, and thoughtful, solemn countenance ; Clay, tall, of rather slight 
frame, but keen, flexible features, and singular ease and freedom in his atti- 
tudes, his walk, and his gestures. Calhoun was also tall, but erect, and rigid 
in his form — his eye grayish blue, and flashing from beneath a brow at once 
imperious and scornful. Mr. Webster's works abound in passages which con- 
vey beautiful sentiments in beautiful language — gems of thought set in golden 
sentences, fitting them to become the adornments of gifted and tasteful minds, 
for all future time. With these other orators it is not so : there is an earnest, 
direct, vigorous logic in Calhoun, which, however, can spare not a sentence to 
any subsidiary thought ; there is a warm, glowing, hearty current of persuasion 
in Clay, yet he is too ardent in the pursuit of his main design, to pause for a 
moment to gather or scatter flowers by the wayside." 

The South Carolinian was the first to retire. " Mr. Calhoun died," writes 
S. S. Cox, " on the last day of March, 1850, almost in the forum. The last 
words of his last speech in the Senate, uttered in the early part of that month, 
were these : ' Having faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both 
to the Union and my section, throughout this agitation, I shall have the con- 
solation, let what will come, that I am free from all responsibility.' Two 
friends then led him out of the Senate Chamber, and his seat was vacant." 

On the announcement of Calhoun's death to the Senate by his colleague, 



The National Capitol 



149 



Judge Butler, Webster jjronouneed upon him an eulogium beautiful in its 
thought and utter forgetfulness of the i)ast : " Sir, 1 have not in public or in 
private life known a more assiduous j^erson in the discharge of his appropriate 
duties. We shall delight to speak of him to those who are rising up to fill our 
places. And, when the time shall come that we ourselves shall go, one after 




HHNRY CLAY S FAREWELL 
From the original by P. F. Rothermel 



another, to our graves, we shall carry with us a deep sense of his genius and 
character, his honor and integrity, his amiable deportment in private life, and 
the purity of his exalted patriotism." 

Clav, strangelv enough, delivered two farewells to the Senate. The first 
was the more effective ; for an audience properly keyed is as necessary to tnie 
dramatic effect as the genius of the actor. It was the 31st day of March, 
1S42 ; the Kentucky Senator, the observed of all observers, arose in his place 
supposedly at the clima.\ of a great career; and his listeners were breathless 



ISO The National Capitol 

in anticipation. He was the picture of Southern gallantry — tall, erect, grace- 
ful, bold — with an eye that commands, a voice that attracts and a spirit that, 
proud in its own strength, holds itself dear ! The orator feelingly recalled 
his early struggles with poverty and privation, his later detractions, friend- 
ships and triumphs. His reference to his adopted State wrung tears even 
from his antagonists : " I migrated to the State of Kentucky nearly forty-five 
years ago," said he. "I went there an orphan who had not yet attained his 
majority, who had never recognized a father's smile or felt his caresses — poor, 
penniless, without the favor of the great, with an imperfect and inadequate 
education, limited to the means applicable to such a boy ; but scarcely had I 
stepped foot upon that generous soil before I was caressed with parental fond- 
ness, patronized with bountiful munificence, and I may add to this that the 
choicest honors, often unsolicited, have been showered upon me ; and when 
I stood, as it were, in the darkest moments of human existence — abandoned 
by the world, calumniated by a large portion of my own countrymen, she 
threw around me her impenetrable shield, and bore me aloft in her courageous 
arms and repelled the poisoned shafts of malignity and calumny aimed for 
my destruction, and vindicated my good name from every false and unfounded 
assault." 

The very desks were listening. The scene was more impressive than one 
from Shakespere's plays; for it was history, not drama! No mimicry, no 
masks, no tinsel, no curtains, no wings ! Theater, dress, characters, emotions 
■ — all real, terribly real ! Can we wonder then that all eyes were riveted upon 
the "Great Commoner"? Nay, even to-day, at the mention of his name, 
gray-beards give a nod and knowing look to presumptuous Youth, as if to 
say : " Sir, he belongs to our generation; you must not hope to produce his 
counterpart." 

We can imagine only what must have been the scene as Henry Clay spoke 
his farewell lines : " May the blessing of Heaven rest upon the whole Senate 
and each member of it, and may the labors of everyone redound to the 
benefit of the nation and the advancement of his own fame and renown. 
And when you shall retire to the bosom of your constituents may you meet 
with that most cheering and gratifying of all human rewards — their cordial 
'Well done, good and faithful servant.' And now, Messrs. President and 
Senators, I bid you all a long, a last and a friendly farewell." 

Defeated for the third time for the Presidency, Clay's friends again 
induced him to don the robes of Senator. The Thirty-first Congress was to 
expire March 4, 185 1. Before its end, the " Great Pacificator " was extremely 
anxious to force the passage of the River and Harbor bill, which had an 
undoubted majority in each House if a vote could be reached. There were 
Senators, however, who were determined to defeat the measure by proposing 
amendments and by " speaking against time when there is so little time left." 



The National Capitol 151 

On the ist and 3cl, Clay championed his cause in vigorous and subtle appeals, 
but in \ain. These, with the exception of a few remarks upon the session 
called for executive business, were his last parliamentary utterances. 

Webster left the Senate two years before his death to become Secretary 
of State xmder Fillmore. On July 17, 1850, he made his final effort in that 
forum to prove the need of a disposition of the "Compromise Measures." 
His opening words were a graceful tribute to the memory of the late Presi- 
dent, General Taylor. His last were a fitting farewell to the Senate, and to 
his own grand service there : " No man can suffer too much and no man can 
fall too soon, if he suffer or if he fall in defence of the liberties and Consti- 
tution of his country." 

Funerals of Calhoun and Clay. — Webster died at Marshfield, Massa- 
chusetts ; Calhoun and Clay passed away in Washington and were honored 
with funeral exercises at the Capitol. On Tuesday, April 2, 1850, at twelve 
o'clock, the remains of John C. Calhoun were brought into the Senate 
Chamber, attended by the committee of arrangements and by Messrs. Man- 
gum, Clay, Webster, Cass, King and Berrien, who acted as pall-bearers. 
The sermon was preached by Rev. C. M. Butler, D.D., Chaplain of the Sen- 
ate. After the exercises, the funeral cortege proceeded to the Congressional 
cemetery, where the body was temporarily deposited. The escort was most 
distinguished in its character. 

The remains of Henry Clay were borne to the Capitol on Thursday, July 
I, 1852. The escort from the National Hotel, where he died, was com- 
posed of public associations, military and civic authorities, public function- 
aries — foreign and American — and a long line of citizens and strangers. 
The exercises were held in the Senate Chamber. The funeral service of the 
Episcopal Church was read, and a sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. 
Butler. The President of the United States and the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives occupied seats by the President of the Senate. The two 
innermost rows of chairs around the lifeless form were reserved for his 
brother Senators and certain representatives of State sovereignties. The 
committee who were to convey his remains to his native State, its delegation 
as chief mourners, the pall-bearers and personal friends also were assigned 
places in close proximity to the deceased. Behind these were assembled 
Representatives, members of the diplomatic corps, the Cabinet, officers of 
the army and navy, among whom Major-General Scott and Commodore Morris 
were conspicuous, municipal councils and distinguished citizens. The old 
Senate Chamber was crowded, as it had so often been to hear his voice. 
The handles, plate and trimmings of the rich casket were of silver, beauti- 
fully chased with a full-blown rose and wreaths of laurel and of oak — the 
acorns detached as if fallen from the stem. After the services, the cortege 
left the Capitol. 



152 The National Capitol 

Assault upon Sumner. — The assault upon J\[r. Sumner, while here 
seated at his Senatorial desk, INIay 22, 1856, was of a more serious nature and 
more to be regretted, than the quarrel — however serious its aspect — between 
Mr. Benton and Mr. Foote. A committee of investigation was appointed 
the next day, and on May 28th it reported the assault a breach of the privilege 
of the Senate, but held that the offense could be punished by the House of 
Representatives only, of which Mr. Brooks, the assaulting party, was a Mem- 
ber. Upon this report being sent to the House, that body appointed a select 
committee to investigate the case, to which the report of the committee of 
the Senate was referred May 29th. The House committee held the assault 
to be a breach of the privilege of the House, as a coordinate branch, and 
recommended expulsion. The resolution, however, failed of the necessary 
two-thirds vote, though on the same day, July 14, 1856, Mr. Brooks an- 
nounced his resignation. He was fined ^300 by the court in Washington; 
but his reelection to Congress, from South Carolina, without opposition, fol- 
lowed immediately. 

The Senate committee in its investigation found that Senators Toombs, 
Pearce and Crittenden were seated in their respective chairs just preceding 
the affair. During the occurrence, Mr. Crittenden was observed near the 
parties, evidently striving to terminate the assault. Mr. Keitt also, a Member 
of the House from South Carolina, was seen to approach the parties, pre- 
sumably with the same intention. In his testimony before the committee, 
Joseph H. Nicholson, an eye-witness, gave the following lucid account of 
the unfortunate occurrence : 

" On Thursday last, the 22nd of May, instant, a few moments after the adjournment 
of the Senate, I retired, as usual, to my desk in one of the offices of the Secretary of the 
Senate. After the lapse of a brief period I returned to the Senate Chamber to request the 
assistant doorkeeper (Mr. Holland) to have a piece of money changed for me. After 
seeking the doorkeeper and communicating my wish to him, I was walking down the main 
aisle of the chamber, when I observed the Hon. INIr. Brooks, of South Carolina, sitting at 
the desk of Senator Pratt. I saluted him, ' How is Col. Brooks to-day?' He responded, 
'Well, I thank you,' and beckoning to me he added, 'Come here, Nicholson.' I 
advanced, and placing myself in Senator Bayard's chair, near which, on my right, Maj. 
Emorj", of the United States Army, was standing, and with whom I had been conversing 
a few minutes before. Col. Brooks remarked to me in his usual tone of voice, and without 
the slightest show of inquietude, 'Do you see that lady in the lobby?' Turning round 
and observing a lady sitting on the lounge at a short distance from us, I said, ' Yes.' Col. 
B. said, ' She has been there for some time ; what does she want ? Can't you manage to 
get her out?' Thinking that Col. B. was only indulging a momentary whim, I jocosely 
replied, 'No; that would be ungallant ; besides, she is very pretty.' Col. B., turning 
round, and looking at the lady, said, 'Yes ; she is pretty, but I wish she would go.' At 
this moment, the changed money was brought to me by one of the pages, and almost at 
the same moment Maj. Emory inquired, ' Who was that gentleman you were conversing 
with?' I had scarcely said ' Col. Brooks, of South Carolina, a very clever fellow,' when 



The National Capitol ^53 

observing Col. Brooks advancing in front of us, and towards, as tiiough about to speak to, 
Senator Sumner, who was silting at his desk apparently engaged in writing, or with papers 
before him, I cannot be positive which ; I voluntarily attempted to call Maj. Emory's 
attention to the fact, for I was much surprised to see a South Carolina Representative in 
the act of approaching to speak to Senator Sumner after the speech delivered by the latter 
the two previous days but one in the Senate. But before I could attract Maj. Emory's 
attention or express surprise, I saw Col. Brooks lean on and over tiie desk of Senator 
Sumner, and seemingly say something to him, and instantly, and while Senator Sumner 
was in the act of rising. Col. Brooks struck him over the head with a dark-colored walking 
cane, which blow he repeated twice or three times, and with rapidity. 

" I think several blows had been inflicted before Senator Sumner was fully in posses- 
sion of his locomotion, and extricated froni his desk, which was thrown over or broken 
from its fastenings by the efforts of the Senator to extricate himself. As soon as Senator 
Sumner was free from the desk he moved down the narrow passageway under the 
impetuous drive of his adversary, with his hands uplifted as though to ward off the blows 
which were rained on his head with as much quickness as was possible for any man to use 
a cane on another whom he was intent on cliastising. The scene occupied but a point of 
time — only long enough to raise the arm and inflict some ten or twelve blows in the most 
rapid succession — the cane having been broken in several pieces. All the while Senator 
Sumner was holding his hands above his head, and turning and tottering, until he sank 
gradually on the floor near Senator CoUamer's desk, in a bleeding and apparently 
exhausted condition. I did not hear one word, or murmur, or exclamation, from either 
party until the affair was over. Such was the suddenness of the affair, the rapidity of its 
execution, the position of persons in the chamber, and the relative positions of the chairs 
and desks, that, although several persons (myself among them) quickly advanced to the 
spot where the parties were engaged, it was not in the power of those present to have 
separated Col. Brooks, or to have rescued Senator Sumner, so as to have prevented the 
former from accomplishing his purpose. Such was the conclusion of my judgment at the 
moment of the occurrence, and such it is now." 

At the same investigation, Governor Brown of Mississippi testified that 
Mr. Brooks had in this way spoken to him of the affair : " Regarding the 
speech (of Mr. Simmer) as an atrocious libel on South Carolina and a gross' 
insult to my absent relative (Judge Butler) I determined, when it was deliv- 
ered, to punish him for it. To-d^y I approached him, after the Senate ad- 
journed, and said to him, ' Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech carefully, 
and with as much calmness as I could be expected to read such a speech. 
You have libeled my State and slandered my relation, who is aged and 
absent, and I feel it to be my duty to punish you for it' ; and with that I 
struck him a blow across his head with my cane, and repeated it until I was 
satisfied. No one interposed, and I desisted simply because I had punished / 
him to my satisfaction." -—"^ 

Kol)inj»- Room of the Justices and Offices of the Clerk. — The 
Clerk's offices are on the west side of the main corridor, and open from the 
vestibule, directly before the Court room, which contains Ionic columns simi- 
lar to those within that chamber. 

The robing room, once the Vice-President's room, to the north, is not 



154 The National Capitol 

open to the public. The justices, headed by the Chief Justice, cross from 
it to the lobby which leads to the bench, a moment before twelve o'clock, 
when the Court convenes, and return after adjournment. At such times, all 
trathc in the hallway is stopped by messengers of the Court, who stretch 
crimson cords across the corridor. This portion of the corridor was formerly 
shut off by mahogany doors. The room thus formed was lighted by a window 
to the north and a large chandelier. It was reserved for the President when 
he came to the Capitol to sign bills or for other purposes. 

On the right and left of the anteroom, which is artificially lighted, because 
it has no windows, are cabinets with glass doors, in which hang the black 
silk gowns of the justices, together with combs and brushes, which, in some 
instances at least, the casual observer might respectfully submit are superfluous. 
The inner room is much larger and contains three windows, the one at tlie 
end of the room affording the same fine view of the city as the western por- 
tico of the central building. These windows are draped with dark red cur- 
tains lined in yellow. In the center of the south side of the room is a fire- 
place, whose mantle, though not large, is delicately cut from Italian marble. 
On it is a French clock, which was purchased during the war. The room 
contains two cases of books, to the right and left of the fire-place, for ready 
reference by the justices. These embrace the SA7^///(-s af Zirr^f, the J\!t/or/s 
of the Suprtiiic Court of the United States, and a few other necess:irv books. 
A number of hair-cloth chairs attract attention for their oddity and rarity. 
They have been well described as '* a cross between an ancient ottoman and 
the curule chair of a Roman Senator." By pushing them together, sofas 
may be formed. There are also several high-back judicial-looking chairs, 
and a large table for writing. This furniture is very old. The carpet in the 
room was placed tliere in October, 1876. 

Above the mantle hang-s a painting in oils, which is one of the most inter- 
esting in the building. It is by Gray, after Gilbert Stuart, of John Jay, the 
first Chief Justice. The robe in wi-'_h he ..^;^:"'-'- ^'^ black, except its large 
flowing sleeves, which fron-" "ust below the shoul' x-s are brick-dust red, 
triii-'"^'^'^ above ajr^ Lciow with narrow silver-gray braid. About the neck 
IS worn a kiii jf stole, which falls low in front like an edge to the gown, 
giving the effect of a collar. "^t^ It is said that this was the gown of the 
Universit}' of Dublin, which conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws upon 
Jav, together with Adams and Franklin, at the close of the peace negotia- 
tions with England ; and that he adopted it when he became Chief Justice. 
There is a storv also that the Chief Justice borrowed the gown of Chancellor 
Livingston to wear until the Court should decide upon its costume ; but, if 
so, he never returned it to that worthy judge : for it reverted to the Jay family 
after remaining in the possession of the Court many years. The picture was 
presented by John Jay, ex-Minister to Austria. 



The National Capitol 



155 




JOHN JAY 



To the right of this picture hangs an oil painting of Chief Justice Taney 
by Healey. It was executed when Taney was eighty-two years of age, nearly 
six years before his death. To the left of the fire-place hangs a corresponding 
picture in oils of Oliver Ellsworth, the third Chief Justice. It is charming 
for the rich, old-fashioned dress in which the artist represents the Chief Justice, 
who is seated by a table with a scroll in his left hand. The figure was copied 
from an old family picture preserved at Windsor, Connecticut, representing 
the Chief Justice and Mrs. Ellsworth seated at a table by a window, through 
which the house can be seen. It was thought to bo the best likeness ever 



156 The National Capitol 

painted of the Chief Justice. This copy was made by Elliott, a Hartford 
artist, for the Court after the original by R. Earle (1792). 

Opposite the fire-place hangs a large painting of the head and bust of Marshall 
by Rembrandt Peale, which is a worthy companion piece to his Washington, 
in the Vice-President's room. The artist has oddly framed the great Chief 
Justice on the canvas in a circular wall, at the top of which is represented a 
head of Solon, as if carved in stone; beneath the portrait is painted in large 
letters across the canvas: "Fiat justicia. " The painting was presented to 
Chief Justice Chase by his legal admirers; and he bequeathed it, at the time 
of his death, to the Court. 

To the right and left of the entrance door, at the eastern end of the room, 
hang portraits respectively of Chase and Waite. The former was painted for 
Henry D. Cook by W. Cogswell, when Chase was Secretary of the Treasury, 
and the date, " 1868," on the front of the painting must have been incorrectly 
placed there at the time of its restoration after the World's Columbian Expo- 
sition, where most of these paintings were severely damaged. The portrait of 
Chief Justice Waite is by Cornelia Adele Fassett, and was purchased by order 
of the Joint Committee on the Library, soon after his death. It was painted 
in the robing room. 

Upon the west wall hangs a portrait of Chief Justice Rutledge, which is 
a copy of a copy, made by Robert Hinckley, a Washington artist. The origi- 
nal picture, which was owned by Captain John Rutledge, a grandson of the 
Chief Justice, is a miniature by Trumbull. This was copied for Mr. Justice 
Gray, and from it the present painting was made. 

Upon the side walls at this end of the room are other pictures, the most 
noticeable of which is a portrait of Marshall, painted by Martin in 1814. 
The Court was anxious to obtain this picture, which was in the possession of 
descendants in Virginia. When the matter came before the Joint Committee 
on the Library, Mr. Evarts championed its purchase. He stated that it had 
been brought to his attention by Chief Justice Fuller, who said that it had 
been pronounced a good likeness by Mrs. Marshall. A photograph also of 
Marshall, by Rice from St. Memim's charcoal sketch from life, commands at- 
tention, as well as an engraving of Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice of England, 
which that eminent judge and jurist sent to the Court in grateful memory of the 
honor conferred on him on the 19th of October, 1883, when he was accorded 
a seat upon the bench of this highest American court during its session. The 
letter accompanying this gift, which hangs upon the opposite wall in a neat 
frame, requests the acceptance of the picture and its hanging upon the walls 
of some room occupied by the Court. 



THE SENATE WING 




MAIN CORRIDOR OF THE SENATE 



Before the 
principal en- 
trance to the Sen- 
ate Chamber runs 
east and west the 
main corridor of 
that wing. To 
the soutli of its 
eastern archway- 
is a portrait of 
Washington by 
Gilbert Stuart, 
and to the north, 
one of John 
Adams, copied by 
Andrews from the 
same master for a 
companion pic- 
ture, and bought by the government for $150 in 1881. A corresponding arch- 
way, upon the right and left of which hang portraits, one of Thomas Jeffer- 
son by Thomas Sully and the other of Patrick Henry * by Matthews, connects 
this south corridor of the Senate with one on the west, which leads to the Italian 
marble staircase. This ascends to the galleries, from which visitors may view 
the proceedings of the Senate, except in case of executive session, when the 
upper corridors and all doors to the chamber and galleries are strictly guarded. 

Statue of Haucock. — At the foot of this beautiful staircase stands a 
marble statue of John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. On the base are inscribed these words : " He wrote his name 
where all nations should behold it, and all time should not efface it." They 

* His speech in the House of Burgesses May 29, 1765, on the Stamp Act, helped to 
bring Virginia to the stand already taken by the New England States. In vindicating his 
resolutions, objected to by Robinson, the Speaker, he said: "Caesar had his Brutus — 
Charles the First, his Cromwell— and George the Third — (' Treason ! Treason ! ' resounded 
from the neighborhood of the chair) — 7?iay pi'ofit by their examples. Sir, if this be treason 
(bowing to chair), make the most of it !" 



158 The National Capitol 

recall his signature on that immortal document, almost the only one which 
time has not nearly obliterated, and his alleged reply when asked why he wrote 
so boldly : "So that George III. can read it without putting on his glasses." 
Horatio Stone, the sculptor, received ^5,500 for this work. 

Battle of Cliapultepec. — On the wall above the landing of the staircase 
is an historical painting by James Walker, which represents the battle of 
Chapultepec. This battle was fought on the 13th of September, 1847, the 
American troops being under the command of Generals Pillow and Quitman. 
The artist was present at the battle, and, no doubt, attempted to record his 
impressions accurately. The picture is one of the few, if not the only one, 
in the possession of the government which represents the uniform of the 
American soldier at that period. It is, however, inadequate in conception 
and execution to its position and surroundings, though it would, no doubt, 
appear to good advantage in some less conspicuous place on the walls of the 
Capitol. The cost of the painting to the government has been $6,137.37. 
It was executed in i860 and intended for the room of the Committee on Mili- 
tary Affairs of the House. 

Secretary's Room. — From the west corridor opens the suite of rooms 
which are set apart for the use of the Secretary of the Senate and his corps of 
assistants. Here are filed all the records of the Senate, all papers and testi- 
mony relating to its legislation and all the original Messages of the Presidents 
of the United States to that body. 

President's Room. — At the west end of the private lobby, which is 
directly north of the Senate Chamber proper, is a room known as the Presi- 
dent's room. This is, beyond doubt, the most beautifully decorated room in 
the Capitol. Whenever occasion requires the presence of the President of the 
United States at the Capitol, this room is solely for his use. Except during 
the administrations of Cleveland, it has been customary for the Executive 
to visit the Capitol during the last days of each Congress to sign bills ; and 
in this room many bills have become laws by the President's approval. . It 
has been the scene of other incidents in their lives. On the evening of 
March 3, 1865, Grant received a message from Lee asking for a meeting and 
interchange of views looking to a submission of '' the subjects of controversy 
between the belligerents to a convention." "General Grant, not being 
vested with any authority whatever to treat for peace," writes General 
Horace Porter, " at once telegraphed the contents of the communication to 
the Secretary of War, and asked for instructions. The dispatch was sub- 
mitted to Mr. Lincoln at the Capitol, where he had gone, according to the 
usual custom at the closing hours of the session of Congress, in order to act 
promptly upon the bills presented to him. He consulted with the Secretaries 
of State and War, and then wrote with his own hand a reply, dated midnight, 
which was signed by Stanton, and forwarded to General Grant. It was 



The National Capitol 



159 




THE PRESIDENT S ROOM 



received the morning of the 4th, and read as follows : 'The President directs 
me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, 
unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some minor 
and purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, 
discuss, or confer upon any political question. Such questions the President 
holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or con- 
ventions. Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.' " 
When the Senate is not in session and the room is not occupied by the 
President, it is open to public view. The rich decorations are the work of 
Brumidi. In the northeast corner of the ceiling is a picture of William Brew- 
ster, Elder of Plymouth Colony; in the southeast corner, one of Christopher 
Columbus ; and in the southwest corner, one of Benjamin Franklin. The 
remaining figure is of Americus Vespucius. Four groups also beautify the 
ceiling. To the north is Religion; to the east, Executive Authority; to the 
south, Liberty; and to the west, Legislation. All these are in fresco. On 
the upper portion of the south wall is noticeable a portrait of Washington in 



i6o The National Capitol 

oils, which was painted from Rembrandt Peale's celebrated picture, masks 
and other sources. Around the room are portraits in oils of the first Cabinet, 
Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox, Randolph and Osgood. The rich furniture of the 
room is upholstered in red leather; and in one corner stands a handsome 
"grandfather's clock" of mahogany, purchased in 1887. 

Reception of King Kalakaua. — On Friday, December 18, 1874, Mr. 
Cameron announced to the Senate that King Kalakaua was in the President's 
room, and that the committee charged with his reception would suggest that 
the Senators call upon him. A recess was accordingly taken until one o'clock, 
and the Senators proceeded in a body to be individually presented to his 
majesty. x\t noon they all marched to the hall of the House, where the 
reception proper was held. The galleries were crowded, and many ladies 
were admitted to the floor. Seats to the right of the Speaker's chair were 
assigned to the Senators, who were received by the Members standing. Gen- 
eral Sherman was conspicuous upon the floor. The king was escorted by Mr. 
Cameron, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and by 
Mr. Orth, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs ; his suite by 
other members of the committee of arrangements. The entire party were in 
citizen's dress. When his majesty had reached the space in front of the 
Speaker's desk, Mr. Cameron introduced him as follows : " Mr. Speaker, I have 
the honor to present to you his majesty, the King of Hawaii." Mr. Speaker 
Blaine, with Vice-President Wilson standing on his right, then addressed the 
king in a speech of welcome. His majesty's reply was read by one of his 
attendants. Chancellor Allen, after the formality of a conference and the 
announcement that the king was suffering from a cold and hoarseness. Fol- 
lowing this the Speaker descended from his place and was introduced to 
Kalakaua, with whom he exchanged courtesies. The former then resumed 
the chair; and his majesty retired as he had entered, followed by his suite 
and the assembled Senators. 

Tlie Mai'ble Kooni. — The marble room is directly east of the Presi- 
dent's room, and also opens upon the private lobby of the Senate. This room 
is built almost entirely of marble ; the ceiling, pilasters and four fluted Co- 
rinthian columns of veined Italian marble, the walls and wainscoting of 
native dark-brown marble from Tennessee. It is used by the Senators as a 
private reception room. Persons who desire to see a Senator during a session, 
must first send their cards to him from the public reception room, which is on 
the east side of the chamber, and if the Senator grants an interview, the visit- 
ors are conducted to the marble room to await his coming. 

Vice-President's Room. — The private office of the Vice-President, 
which is known as the Vice-President's room, is directly east of the marble 
room. It is not ordinarily open to the public. Upon its eastern wall hangs 
a portrait which is probably the best of Washington in the possession of 



The National Capitol i6i 

the government. It was painted by Rembrandt Peale, the son of Charles 
Willson Peale. The studies were made when the former was but eighteen 
years of age. Washington sat on three occasions out of respect for the 
artist's father. The young painter, however, seems to have been more 
agitated than inspired by the honor. His original sketch has been lost, 
though the present painting, which was executed in 1828, long after Washing- 
ton's death, preserves its best remembered points. The artist always worked 
with Houdon's bust before him. The painting was much admired, both 
in the United States and in the principal cities of Europe, where it was 
exhibited in 1829. In 1832, the Senate, by a unanimous resolution, appro- 
priated $2,000 for its purchase. Chief Justice Marshall spoke of it as " more 
Washington himself than any portrait I have ever seen " ; Judge Peters gave it 
a better testimonial, " I judge from its effect on my heart." 

\ Upon the mantle is a trench gilt clock of exquisite workmanship, which 
was purchased during the administration of Polk and Dallas. The book- 
case on the western side of the room dates from the time of Buchanan. In 
a small closet in the southeast corner of the room hangs an antique gilt 
mirror, which tradition says was purchased by John Adams, the first Vice- 
President of the United States, when the seat of government was in New 
York city. If this be true, the glass, no doubt, has many times reflected the 
features of the immortal Washington. Two brackets upon the eastern wall 
hold busts of Henr}' Wilson by Daniel C. French (1885) and of Lafayette 
Foster by C. Caverley (1878), former Vice-Presidents of the United States. 

In this room one Vice-President passed away and another received the oath 
of office as President. Here Henry Wilson died; here on the 22d of Septem- 
ber, 1881, in the presence of General Grant and of a few of the justices of the 
Supreme Court, Garfield's Cabinet, the Senators and Representatives, the oath 
of office was administered to Chester A. Arthur by Chief Justice Waite. The 
inaugural was very short. Two days earlier, Arthur had taken the same oath 
at his residence. No. 123 Lexington Avenue, New York, at two o'clock a.m., 
in the presence of John R. Brady, a justice of the Supreme Court of the State 
of New York. 

Henry Wilson suffered a congestive chill November 10, 1875, while taking 
a bath in the Senate bathroom, and was carried immediately to the Vice- 
President's room. Twelve days later, at twenty minutes after seven in the 
morning, he passed away. He had awakened at seven seemingly refreshed 
and hopeful. In a few minutes, however, there was a change. His breath 
came shorter and shorter, his head fell back on the pillow, — a moment — and 
he was gone. While thoughtfully musing during his last minutes upon his 
election to the Vice-Presidency, he unconsciously uttered his dying words : 
" If I live to the close of my present term there will be only five who have 
served their country so long as I." " The room this morning," records the 
II 



1 62 The National Capitol 

Sta7-, " was in a state of great confusion, showing the lack of female nursing 
and attention. At the head of his bed on the right was a small desk on 
which were numerous bottles of medicine, glasses and other articles. On 
the left and between the bed and the closet was an easy chair and an ordi- 
nary arm chair on which were lying some of his clothing. At the foot of the 
bed was a large screen used to protect the Vice-President from the draft from 
the door or window, or if desired from the heat of the grate. On a table in 
the centre of the room were a few books and some cards of callers of yester- 
day. Several letters, some opened and some unopened, were lying on the 
table and a letter partly finished was among them." 

A post-mortem examination, most horrible in its details to the eyes and 
ears of the uninitiated, found the cause of death to be apoplexy. At ten 
o'clock on the morning of the 25th, the casket was placed in state in the 
rotunda. Marines in full uniform composed the guard of honor ; the one at 
the head and the one at the foot at " parade rest," as motionless as statues. 
Strangely enough, much disrespect to the departed was evinced and permitted. 
The National Republican says : " Men stood about the rotunda with hats on, 
smoking cigars and pipes ; nurses occupied the seats, while their charges 
played hide-and-seek among the crowd, and several parties of women went so 
far as to spread out the lunch they had brought with them and eat it within 
sight of the remains. All this was most unseemly and should have been pre- 
vented by the police, but was allowed to pass unnoticed. It was estimated 
that fully twenty-five thousand persons viewed the remains." 

On the morning of the 26th, the casket was lifted by soldiers detailed 
from the Ordnance Corps of the army, and borne to the Senate Chamber. 
President Grant, his Cabinet and a distinguished gathering were present. At 
ten-thirty o'clock Mr. Ferrj^ President of the Senate, arose and said : " Appro- 
priate funeral services will now be held." Chaplain Byron Sunderland then 
read selections from Scripture, after which Rev. Dr. Rankin delivered a dis- 
course. The Chaplain offered prayer and the services closed with the bene- 
diction. As each delegation was called by the Sergeant-at-Arms, it passed 
quietly out of the hall and took the place assigned to it in the procession. 
The remains left the city at the Baltimore and Potomac depot, where six years 
later Garfield was shot. 

Public Reception Room. — The public reception room before the 
eastern entrance to the Senate lobby owes much of its beauty to exquisite 
mural decorations in fresco by Brumidi, though the artist, because of other 
assignments of work, was never permitted to finish all the panels. On the 
northern portion of the ceiling are four groups representing Peace, Freedom, 
War and Agriculture. To the south, the center piece also is beautifully fres- 
coed. In the four corners of the room are depicted the cardinal virtues. 
Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude. On the south wall is another 



The National Capitol 



163 



interesting group, George Washington in consultation with two members of his 
Cabinet, Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jeffer- 
son, first Secretary of State. Northeast of the reception room, in the corner of 
the wing, is the room of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate. On the wall hangs a 
full-length portrait (1875) of Joseph Henry by Henry Ulke, a Washington artist. 
Here also are traces of Brumidi's brush. To the east, a maiden, sadly breaking 
a bundle of fasces, indicates the dissolution of the Union. To the south is War. 
To the west, a maiden is cheerfully binding the bundle of fasces, each rod again 
in its place. To the north is Prosperity. The group in the center of the ceil- 
ing personifies the loving welcome of the erring daughter back into the fold. 




PUBLIC RECEPTION ROOM 



164 The National Capitol 

The hallway which forms the eastern approach to the Senate Chamber is 
rightfully much admired. It contains sixteen fluted columns of Italian 
marble, supporting a ceiling of the same costly material. The capitals of 
these columns might be styled x^mericanized-Corinthian, as the classic acan- 
thus is gracefully surmounted by the native corn and tobacco leaves. It is 
said that while the columns were being carved, Jefferson Davis, Secretary of 
War, suggested the innovation as more representative of x\merican products. 
The side walls, which are of plaster decorated in imitation of Sienna marble, 
are enriched by pilasters similar to the columns in material and design. They 
contain niches, which, no doubt, at some future time, will be iilled with 
busts of the ex-Vice-Presidents whose memories are not already commemorated 
in other niches in the walls of the Senate wing. 

Senate Bronze Doors. — At the entrance to this hallway from the east- 
ern portico of the wing are bronze doors designed by Crawford, which are 
said to be the first work of the character cast in this country, — at Chicopee, 
Massachusetts, by James T. Ames, in 1868. The plaster models were ex- 
ecuted in Rome by William H. Rinehart. The designs of the panels relate 
to events in the Revolutionar)^ war and the life of General Washington. 
There are three panels and a medallion on each door. The top panel on the 
north door represents the death of General Warren at the battle of Bunker 
Hill. Below it is the rebuke of General Charles Lee by General Washington 
at the battle of INIonmouth, New Jersey. The lowest panel depicts the storm- 
ing of the redoubt at Vorktown by Alexander Hamilton. The medallion at the 
bottom shows a conflict between a Hessian soldier and a New Jersey farmer. 
The corresponding medallion on the south leaf of the doors represents 
Peace and Agriculture. x\bove this is General Washington passing beneath an 
arch of flowers at Trenton, New Jersey, while on his way to New York city to 
be inaugurated iirst President of the United States. The middle panel repre- 
sents Washington taking the oath of office, administered by Chancellor Liv- 
ingston. As the Suprer— Court of the LTnited States was not organized 
until September of the same year, the Chief Justice could not officiate ; and 
this established the precedent whereby a President-elect can.be sworn into 
office, in case of necessity, by another than the chief of that Court. The 
top panel shows the laying of the original corner-stone of the Capitol by 
Washington, with Masonic rites, on the i8th of September, 1793. The weight 
of these doors is 14,000 pounds. Their total cost has been $56,495.11, more 
than double the cost of the Rogers doors with which they are in no way com- 
parable. Of this sum, $6,000 went to Crawford, the artist; the balance for 
the casting, materials, etc. 

Above the doors, in the portico, is a high relief in marble, representing 
two reclining female figures. This was executed in Italy from designs of 
Crawford, for which he received $3,000. The figure to the right with the 



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SENATE BRONZE DOORS 



The National Capitol 



167 




FORMER DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE ROOM 



scales is Justice; upon her book is inscribed "Justice Law Order." Upon 
the scroll held by the figure to the left is written " History July 1776." 

Coiiiniittee on the District of Coliiiiibia. — The door to the north 
within the entrance leads to the abode of the Committee on the District of 
Columbia. To bespeak the beauty of this District room, it is necessary only 
to say that it was decorated by Brumidi's brush. Four groups in fresco sym- 
bolize History, Physics, Geography and the Telegraph. 

Statue of Franklin. — The entrance hallway connects with a corridor, 
from which ascends a grand staircase built entirely of Tennessee marble. At its 
foot is a well-conceived though passive statue of Benjamin Franklin by Hiram 
Powers, whose " Greek Slave " has given him world-wide fame. Ten thousand 
dollars were paid for the statue. The simplicity of the dress worn by the 
Revolutionary diplomat recalls the amusing debate, on March 25, 1876, in 
the House of Representatives upon costumes to be worn by persons in the 
diplomatic service of the United States, and the amendment offered by Mr. 



1 68 The National Capitol 

Noell : " The uniform prescribed by this act shall be as follows : cocked hat 
looped up with the American eagle ; swallow-tail coat with the stars and stripes 
upon the tail, and the words marked in worsted 'Protective Tariff'; but- 
ternut pantaloons, closely fitting; yellow stockings with garters a la Franklin; 
round toed shoes of the latest Lowell fashions ; buckskin vest, one side black 
and the other white, indicative of no distinction on account of color; pinch- 
beck breastpin with inscription, 'Economy is wealth.' " 

Battle of Lake Erie. — On the wall above the landing of the staircase 
is the celebrated picture by W. H. Powell, known as the Battle of Lake Erie, 
fought at Put-In Bay on the loth of September, 1813, during our second war 
with Great Britain. It represents Oliver Hazard Perry in the midst of the battle 
as he leaves the disabled flag-ship Lawrence, in the foreground, to transfer 
his battle-flag to the Niagara, upon the right, in order to renew the fight. 
Through lack of^wind, the Lawrence had been compelled alone to engage 
almost the entire British fleet, especially the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, 
and had quickly become disabled under the tremendous fire to which she 
was exposed. As a daring resort, Perry hauled down his Union Jack, 
having for its motto the dying words of the beloved Lawrence, ^^ Don't give up 
the ship," and taking it over his arm, ordered a boat made ready. The Eng- 
lish Commodore, anticipating a surrender, signalled his men to cease firing. 
But when he saw Perry emerging from the smoke, standing boldly erect among 
his oarsmen and heading fearlessly for the Niagara, Barclay divined his 
object and ordered the fire of the fleet to be centered upon the little craft. 
Perry miraculously made the passage in safety — occupying a period of some 
minutes — in the very teeth of the broadsides and small arms turned upon him, 
hoisted his flag at the masthead of the Niagara, renewed the fight, and cap- 
tured the English fleet. This is the only instance in her history when England 
lost an entire fleet, and it surrendered to a man of twenty-seven. It was on 
this occasion that Perry sent the celebrated dispatch to the general in com- 
mand of the American Army of the Northwest, William Henry Harrison : 

U. S. Brig Niagara, 
September loth, 1813 ; 4 P.M. 
Dear General : — 

We have met the enemy and they are ours : two Ships, two Brigs, one Schooner and 
one Sloop. Yours, with great respect and esteem, 

O. H. Perry. 

Powell, in painting the picture, selected for some of his models men 
employed in various capacities about the Capitol. The face of the sailor 
with his head bound and blood streaming from it is that of Captain John 
Decker, for many years " boss rigger " of the building. The chief interest 
in the picture arises from its dramatic qualities. As a marine painting it is 



T 



i<: 



National Capitol 



169 



not grc'.'it. The pcrspL-ctivc of the ships in the background is unmistakably 
bad. Tlic whole |m« lure ^dves the effect of a toy battle. The men in the 
boat, instead of being l)egrinied with smoke and oil and powder, are fresh as 
if on dress ])arade. The coloring, too, is unnatural. Yet, in s]>ite of many 
technical incongruities and undoubted weakness in artistic expression, the 
picture has a (harm which holds the attention as fixed as any which hangs 
upon tlu' wills ol the ('.ijiitol. This charm lies in the romance which encir- 
cles Perry's name as the " Hero of ],ake Mrie," and in the sympathy awakened 
by the tender bit of ])athos admirably portrayed by the artist in the l>oy- 
brother* tugging at the Couunodore's sleeve. There is one ])it of ]jainting in 




BATII !•; OF I.AKI-; HKII- 



the picture of the highest order of excellence : it is the flag which floats from 
the small boat. That flag really feels the battle breeze. The sum of $25,000 
was appropriated by Congress for the work. 

Kociill of Coliinibiis. — On the wall above and opposite the Battle of 
Lake h'.rie hangs a painting which commands the admiration of artists. Its 
title is the Recall of C'olumbus. This ])icture is by A. O. Heaton of Wash- 
ington, 1). C, and was bought by the government in 1884 for $3,000. It 
was completed in Paris from studies made at the scene of the event, near 
Granada, Spain, and represents the turning point in the career of the great 

*J. Alexander Perry, warranted iSii ; commissioned as Lieutenant April i, 1822; 
drowned in an attempt to save a sinking officer. At the time of the battle he was a second 
Aid to the Commodore, being then thirteen years old. Another brother, Matthew 
Calbraith Perry, organized and commanded the expedition to Japan ; delivered the Presi- 
dent's letter of July 14, 1853 ; and on the 31st of March, 1854, signed the treaty of peace. 



I70 



The National Capitol 



discoverer. As narrated by Washington Irving, Columbus, at nearly sixty 
years of age, made his last appeal for aid to Ferdinand and Isabella, then in 
their camp at Santa Fe ; and being refused, started, discouraged but not 
defeated, to seek help from the sovereign of France. After his departure, 
Isabella was urged by Columbus' friends to reconsider his cause in the inter- 
est of religious propagation as well as of national glory and aggrandizement. 
Her zealous spirit yielded at last to their eloquence; and, determined, if 
necessary, to sacrifice her jewels, she dispatched a messenger in haste after 
Columbus, who was overtaken in his journey at the bridge of Pinos, midway 
between Santa Fe and Granada. The picture represents this eventful moment 




KbAAl L. OF COLUMBUS 



in Columbus' life. With halted mule, he receives the communication of the 
shrewdly courteous messenger, who has dismounted from one of the spirited 
blue-black steeds of Andalusia. The disappointments of years yield to the 
sweet whispers of renewed hope ; yet the lessons of experience and an in- 
born dignity still control his countenance. He raises his cap not more in 
exultation than in courtly salute to the royal messenger. A mounted com- 
panion is less reserved in his curiosity; and a muleteer, half suspicious of an 
interrupted journey, restrains one of the pack of mules he is leading, while 
mechanically covering a pannier, suggestive of the discoverer's mission. At 
the roadside, an old gipsy gazes stoically upon the scene, while a little child 
by him shrinks closer in fear of the restive horse of the messenger. 

It is claimed for the artist that in his work he has devote^i the utmost 
study to details. The face of Columbus is the result of a close comparison 
of one actual, and many reputed, likenesses in painting and engraving at 



The National Capitol 17 ' 

Madrid, and in S(ul])tiirc and mosaic at (Icnoa, ('oliiiiil)us' l)irtli|)larL", with 
regard also to the descriptive verses of a contemporary Spanish poet. The 
mule studies were made in Si)ain and from animals in the stables of the 
ex-queen of Spain, in Paris. 'I'lic ( oslunu-s and trappings are characteristic 
of the country and epoch, ami the lands(a|)e suggests tlie mild winter day of 
southern Spain. 

Moraii Paintings, etc. — On the north and south walls of tiie lobby east 
of the central eastern gallery of the Senate C'hamber are two famous land- 
scajies by Thomas Moran, known as the (Irand C'anon of the Yellowstone and 
the Chasm of the Colorado. These ])ictures, jiurchast-d for $10,000 each, 
were jiainted from sketches made by the artist in the field, and do not over- 
elaborate in ( olor the magnificence of the scenes which they portray. The 
poetry of the clouds, the ])oetry of the rocks, the j^oetry of the torrents and 
the poetrv of the caiions are naturally told. 'J'he theme of the ])ictures is 
Nature in her gramU-st form, and the wonder is tliat the brush could realize 
it at all. It is interesting to seek the grizzly bear in the ])icture of the 
Yellowstone. 

Portraits of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay adorn the western wall. These 
are by the portrait painter, H. V. Darby. The three marble busts are of 
Charles Sumner, by Martin Milmore; of Caribaldi, the Italian apostle of 
freedom, by Martequana ; and of an Indian chief. A portrait of John C. 
Calhoun, also by Darby, hangs high upon the eastern wall. 

Klectoral Commission. — On the eastern wall of the lobby of the Senate 
gallery, above the reception room, is an interesting picture by Cornelia Adele 
Fassett, painted from life in 1877-78. It represents one of the most impor- 
tant scenes in the history of the United States — the presentation of the Florida 
Case before the Electoral Commission on February 5, 1877, in the present 
Supreme Court chamber. William M. Evarts of New York is addressing the 
Commission on behalf of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate for 
President. 

The Commission consisted of five members of the Supreme Court of the 
ITnited States, four of whom were ajipointed by the President and the fifth 
chosen by these four ; of five members of the Senate, elected by that 
body; and of five members of the House, similarly chosen. The eyes of all 
the people of the nation were upon these fifteen men. They were to deter- 
mine the validity of the electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and 
South Carolina, from which States two distinct sets of returns had been 
received by the Presitlent of the Senate. On their decision hung the ques- 
tion whether Hayes or Tilden should be President of the United States. 

Though the honesty of the Commission has never been iloubted except in 
the heat of partisan expression, it is interesting to note that no one, even of 
the five justices of the Sujireme Court, voted otherwise than according to his 



172 



The National Capitol 



^eg to ^rs. ^aastffs gitfyre. 

^^^U THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION. 



IK THE OALLERT. 










Z COMMI88IONEBS. 



t:.r." 









life-long political convictions; and a member of the present bench has been 
heard to tell with great unction how a much respected judge, who sat on 
the Commission and who never had a dishonest thought in his life, remarked 
seriously to a brother justice that the members of the party to which he did 
not belong had voted according to their partisan convictions— seemingly totally 
unconscious at the time of the fact that the members of his own party had 
been equally true to their party affiliations. 



The National Capitol 175 

The picture cost the government $7,500, and will continue to grow more 
and more valuable because of the admirable collection of portraits which it 
contains. 

Tlio First Fis'lit oV Iroiu-lads. — On the opjjosite wall hangs a naval 
painting of the battle between the Monitor and the 2ffr>-i//iac, that marvel 
of history which took ])lace in Hampton Roads, March 9, 1862. The 
artist, ^\'. F. Halsall, who received $7,500 for the work, is said to have inter- 
viewed in person or by letter some five hundred eye-witnesses of the fight ; 
and, consequently, this is probably the most . perfect representation of the 
famous meeting of the ironclads in existence. The Virginia, as she was 
rated in the Confederate navy, it will be remembered, was the old United 
States sloo])-of-war Mcrriinac , which had been sunk at the Norfolk Navy Yard 
during the early part of the war. She had been raised l^y the Confederates, 
and plated with railroad rails. These were placed in a slanting position 
according to the designs of Lieutenant John M. Brooke of the Confederate 
na\y, so that a ball or solid shot striking above the water line would be de- 
flected. Her superiority over the ordinary United States sloops-of-war and 
frigates was demonstrated on her first day's engagement. Inferior as she 
proved to lie to the Northern invention, the Mcrrimac alone could then have 
mastered any fleet afloat, foreign or American. 

" Having sunk the Cumberland,'''' writes S. S. Cox, " the Virginia 
turns upon the Congress, which is already hotly engaged with the gun-boats 
attendant on the ironclad. The commanding officer of the Congress ^^^&~j- 
witnessed the fate of the Cumberland. He heads for shoal water -^ arid 
grounds ! The J'irginia now selects a raking position astern of the Con- 
gress, while one of the smaller steamers pours in a constant fire on her star- 
board quarter. Two other steamers of the enemy approach from the James 
River, also firing upon the unfortunate frigate with precision and severe effect. 
The guns of the Congress are almost entirely disabled, and her gallant 
commanding officer, young Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, has fallen at his 
post. Her decks are strewn with the dead and the dying, the ship is on fire in 
several places, and not a gun can be brought to bear upon the assailants. In 
this state of things and with no effectual relief at hand, the senior surviving 
officer. Lieutenant Pendergrast, feels it his duty to save further useless destruc- 
tion of life by hauling down his colors. This is done about four o'clock, 
P.M. The Congress continues to burn until about eight in the evening, 
then she blows up. \Mien word comes to the Navy Department that the 
Congress hauled down her colors, the brave old Commodore Sinith imme- 
diately says in deep emotion : ' Then Joe is dead.' His boy went down with 
the ship." 

The Monifor or "Yankee cheese-box on a raft," as it was contemp- 
tuously called by the Confederates, was designed by John Ericsson, though 



i;^ The National Capitol 

Timbv. an Aniorican K")y of nineteen, had twenty years before invented the 
revohing turret. She had arrived fa^n New York during the night following 
the battle, and when, on Sunday morning, the Jftrrimat- renewed the attaek on 
tlie steam frigx\te ^^N/^csi>Al, appeared from behind that vessel, and from her 
turret begnn a furious cannonade. The late Rear-Admiral John Lorimer 
Worden. wlio was commanding in the pilot-house, \\-as stunned and partially 
blinded during the engagement. The picture represents the Mcrririhi,- in the 
act of attempting to run down the smaller vessel. Disabled from the can- 
nonade and the futile attempt to ram the .)A'////<'/-, Lieutenant-Commander 
Jones is compelled to retreat to the shelter of the batteries at Sewell's Point. 
In the following May, the Aft-rrinuii- was blown up bv the Confederates to 
prevent her falling into the hands of the Yankees ; in December, the Moni/or 
was lost off Cape Hatteras. 

This historical picture is undoubtedly worthy of the place it holds on the 
vralls of the Capitol, and of the attention it receives from the visiting public. 
It is noticeable as the only painting in the Capitol of a scene in the late 
Rebellion : and even it to-day awakens rather a spirit of national pride that 
the naval warfare of the world w-as revolutionized by the American inventive 
genius, here displayed, than anv narrow feeling of sectionalism. 

Portraits of Liiieolu. OartioUl, Suniiior and l>i\. — To the right 
and left of the ]Mcture of the Electoral Commission hang two remarkable 
mosaics, of Abraham Lincoln and James A. Gartield. Thev were n\ade bv 
S;ilviati, of Florence. Italy, and by him presented to the government ivfter 
the deaths of its two martyred Presidents. On the walls of this worn hang 
also portraits by Ingalls and Morrell. respectively, of Charles Sunnier. Senator 
from Massaclnisetts. and of John Adams Dix of New York. who. when Sec- 
retary oi^ the Treasury, on January :>q, iSot. wrote the famous words: *' If 
any one attempts to haul down the American llag, shoot hini on the sjK~>t." 

Souuto l>ooinuoiit Kooms. — Opening off the southern corridor of the 
gallery tloor is a ca^wded. littered and irregular suite of rooms known as the 
Senate document rooms. These lie in the upper story of the annex as well 
as that of the old north wing. They are connected with the main hallwav 
below by a winding staircase in the rear, by which only access can be secured 
during the executive sessions of the Senate. Amzi Smith is in charge. He 
has acquired such a wonderful knowledge of the legislation of Congress, and 
has become of such invaluable service, that his own name is incorporated bv 
Congass in each appa"»priation act, so that no other person can be appointed 
in his place. 

Souato Chamber. — An excellent view of the Senate Chamber is to be 
had fTC)m any one of its galleries, the seating capacity of which is 690 per- 
sons. The chamber is rectangular in shape, being 113 feet 3 inches in length. 
80 feet j; inches in width and 30 feet in height. The hall and its adjoining 



TIk" National C'apiiol 



t77 




si:na'i"i-: ciiami^i-r 



private lobbies arc ri.Iily furnisiuHl. Vhc \iro.l>rosi(lcnt of the Ignited 
States, who. as part of his ConstitutiiMial (hities. ]iresi(les over the Senate, 
occupies the ehair upon the rostrum in the .enter to the north. On his rit^ht 
sits the Ser-eant-at-Anus ; on Iris lei t. the 1 )oorkeei)er. Ihe Ion- table before 
the ehair is for the use of the Se.retarv of the Senate, the rea.ling clerks, thc 
chief clerk and the journal clerk. The small maho-anv tal)les in' front of the 
Secretary's table are devoted to the official steno-raphen?, who report all 
debates ami other jiroceedings, otherwise than during executive sessions, that 
take place upon the floor of the Senate. The center\aisle customarilv divides 
the seats occupied by the two great political parties. On the ri-ht of the 
presiding officer sit the Democrats ; upon his left, the Republicans. Third- 
jwrty men usually sit upon the side of the chamber where their affiliations have 
theretofore been. The Senators' desks all conform to the same general model 



1 78 The National Capitol 

in appearance, though many of them are very old, having been brought from 
the former chamber. 

Decorations. — The glass ceiling of this chamber is adorned with symbol- 
isms of War, Peace, Union and Progress, and of the arts, sciences and 
industries. The panels are buff-colored, and the walls themselves decorated 
with gold arabesques on delicate tints. The portrait of George Washington 
by R. Peale of New York was originally purchased for the Senate Chamber, 
according to the resolution of July 2, 1832, as reported by Mr. Frelinghuy- 
sen. The taste of the modern Senate, however, excludes all such decorations ; 
for on the 15th of February, 1884, upon the motion of Mr. Cockrell, it was 
unanimously resolved " that no paintings or portraits be placed upon the walls 
of the Senate Chamber." The set of marble busts of the ex-Vice-Presidents, 
authorized on May 13, 1886, in amending a resolution introduced by Mr. 
Ingalls of Kansas, to be placed from time to time in the vacant niches of 
the Senate wing by the Architect of the Capitol, subject to the advice and 
approval of the Senate Committee on the Library, is still incomplete. 

I^otalble Events. — The Vice-President-elect takes the oath of office, 
customarily administered by the Vice-President, just preceding the inaugura- 
tion of the President. This ceremony takes place in the Senate Chamber, 
over which he is to preside, in the presence of the President, President-elect, 
Senate and House. The Presidential party then proceed to the platform, 
prepared to the east of the Capitol, for the inaugural exercises. In this 
chamber also, all treaties made by the United States with foreign powers 
are ratified, and nominations for appointments made by the President con- 
firmed. Here, near the close of the Rebellion and during the reconstruction 
period, the Senate hotly debated the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments of 
the Constitution, before they were submitted by Congress to the Legislatures 
of the States. 

Bakei-'s Speech. — In this Senate Chamber, Edward Dickinson Baker, 
the Senator-soldier from Oregon, delivered the brilliant speech which proved 
to be his last utterance upon the floor of Congress. " With a zeal that 
never tired," writes Mr. Sumner of his brother Senator, " after recruiting men 
drawn by the attraction of his name, in New York and Philadelphia and else- 
where, he held his brigade [known as the California Regiment] in camp, near 
the Capitol, so that he passed easily from one to the other, and thus alternated 
the duties of a Senator and a General." On the afternoon of August i, 1861, 
ten days after the first battle of Bull Run, Mr. Baker had entered in the full 
uniform of a colonel of the United States army, and with his sword laid 
across his desk was listening to the debate, when John C. Breckenridge, still in 
the Senate, took the floor and began to speak with the poignancy of which he 
was master against the Insurrection and Sedition bill. The soldier's eyes 
flashed fire as he heard the words of the brilliant Kentuckian, and upon the 



The National Capitol 179 

completion of the speech, his voice rang out in answer and denunciation. 
" What would have been thought," he said, " if, in another Capitol, in a yet 
more martial age, a senator, with the Roman purple llowing from his shoul- 
ders, had risen in his place, surrounded by all the illustrations of Roman 
glory, and declared that advancing Hannibal was just, and that Carthage 
should be dealt with on terms of peace ? What would have been thought, if, 
after the battle of Cann^v;, a senator had denounced every levy of the Roman 
people, every expenditure of its treasure, every appeal to the old recollec- 
tions and the old glories ? " Mr. Fessenden, sitting by Mr. Baker, broke out 
in an audible undertone: " He would have been hurled from the Tarpeian 
Rock ! " This incited the orator to more powerful utterance. " .Are not the 
speeches of the Senator from Kentucky intended for disorganization ? are 
they not intended to destroy our zeal ? are they not intended to animate our 
enemies ? Sir, are they not words of brilliant, polished treason, even in the 
very Capitol of the Republic ? " 

The handsome face, the gallant figixre, the rich uniform, the earnestness 
of the impromptu reply and the fact that the smoke of the guns of war was 
still in the air, all combined to inspire the orator with a patriotic eloquence 
which makes the occasion remembered to-day as one of the most dramatic and 
effective in modern times. Within three months, while gallantly leading a 
charge at Ball's Bluff, the orator's voice was stilled forever. 

Iiupeacliincnt of Andrew Johnson. — Here occurred the most famous 
impeachment trial in the history of the American Republic. On February 
21, 1868, Mr. Covode of Pennsylvania moved the following resolution in 
the House of Representatives : " Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, President 
of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors." 
It was carried by an almost strictly party vote of 126 to 47. On the 5th 
of March, the Senate was organized as a court of impeachment, and Salmon 
P. Chase took the chair in accordance with the Constitutional provision 
that " When the President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice 
shall preside." The court was formally opened for the great trial on 
the 13th, but fortunately one black page in American histor}' need not be 
written ; for the final vote on the 26th of May resulted in 35 for conviction 
and 19 for acviuittal. As a two-thirds vote is required by the Constitution to 
convict in such cnses, the President was acquitted by one vote. His counsel 
were Henry Stanbtrv, Benjamin R. Curtis, Thomas A. R. Nelson, Jeremiah 
S. Black and Willian. M. Evarts. 

Tnu>«^Jit'ln»HMit of Belknap. — On Tuesday, April 4, 1876, in the ad- 
ministration of President Grant, the managers of the impeachment on the 
part of the House of Representatives appeared at the bar of the Senate ; and 
after the proper introductory ceremony, Mr. Manager Lord read the " .Articles 
exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America 



i8o 



The National Capitol 



against William W. Belknap, late Secretary of War, in maintenance and sup- 
port of their impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors 
while in said office." Belknap was charged with having received a large 
sum of money for appointing John S. Evans to maintain a trading establish- 
ment at Fort Sill, a military post. 

The questions of law raised during the long trial were most interesting, 
and bespeak the ability and adroitness of defendant's counsel, J. S. Black, 
Montgomery Blair and Matthew H. Carpenter. As Belknap had resigned 

his commission as Secretary of War, 
and at the time of impeachment 
was a private citizen of the United 
States and of the State of Iowa, it 
was claimed on his behalf that he 
was not liable to impeachment, and 
that the Senate was without jurisdic- 
tion. The trial was not determined 
until Tuesday, August ist, when a 
vote was taken on each article sepa- 
rately. No one of the impeach- 
ment charges being sustained by a 
two-thirds vote of the Senators, the 
respondent was acquitted. A sup- 
posed sub-strata of social intrigue 
sharpened the public interest in this 
case. 

Eulogies. — As in the House, 
days are set apart in the Senate for 
eulogies to be pronounced upon dis- 
tinguished dead. In some cases the 
honor has been much more marked. 
The remains of Chief Justice Cliase, on May 12, 1873, were sadly borne 
through the Rogers bronze doors, draped in black, and the casket immedi- 
ately taken to the Supreme Court chamber and placed upon the Lincoln bier, 
— the head towards the chair lately occupied by the departed. I'he casket 
was not open to the public. This chamber, however, was thrjght too small 
for the exercises, and the remains were affectionately borne by the old 
colored servants of the Court into the more spacious hr..il of the Senate. 
The officiating clergy, led by Rev. Dr. Tiffany, pastor of the Metropolitan 
M. E. Church, entered in advance. All wore black crape sashes. The audi- 
ence respectfully arose as the procession entered. Dr. Tiffany began the 
funeral services while the casket was being placed before the Vice-President's 
desk. President Grant and his Cabinet entered through the central doors, the 




The National Capitol i8i 

Executive occupying the end seat on the aisle to the left of the chair. The 
Cal)inet sat upon his right. The pall-bearers took seats ujjon the right of the 
Vice-President, liehind them sat Senator and Mrs. S|)rai:;ue. 

The Congressional funeral ceremonies in honor of C'liarh's SiiniiK'r were 
held in tliis room at noon, March 13, 1874. The remains were brought 
thither from the rotunda, where they had rested in state from an early morning 
hour open to the view of the hosts of friends of the beloved Massachu.setts 
Senator. " Since the inauguration of ("rrant," said the Star, " there has been 
no event which has drawn to the Capitol such a vast assembly of spectators." 
The pall-bearers were Senators Anthony, Schurz, Sargeant, Oglesby, Stockton 
and McCreery. 

Cliai-les Willsoii Peale's Washiiig-toii. — At the head of the western 
staircase leading to the Senate galleries is a full-length painting of George 
Washington. On it we read: '' C. W. Peale, pinx ! Philadelphia 1779." 
It was commenced in 1778, when Washington was forty-six years of age, while 
the army lay starving in their frozen camp at Valley I'orge, but was not finished 
until after the battles of Trenton, Princeton and Monmouth. At the last 
place, Washington suggested to the artist, himself a captain of volunteers in 
the Revolution, that he would find a good background for the picture in the 
view from the window of the farm-house where they were then sitting. Peale 
accordingly added Monmouth Court House and a party of Hessians leaving it 
under guard of the American troops. Old Nassau College at Princeton, where 
the picture was finished, also appears. 

This painting was ordered by a resolution of the Continental Congress. 
That body adjourned, however, without making the appropriation for its pur- 
chase. A replica was executed, under a commission from Lafayette, for Louis 
XVL, which is now at Versailles. The original painting in the Capitol also 
was sent to France, where it seems to have been sold at public sale, but not 
for the benefit of the artist. It became the property of Count de Menou, 
perhaps under the delusion that it was the court picture. He brought it to 
America when he was charge d' affaires at Washington, and placed it in the 
National Institute. When that association dissolved, the painting, with the 
other treasures then deposited in the Patent Otifice, found a home in the Smith- 
sonian Institution. In 1876, it was temporarily hung in the Philadelphia 
Academy of Fine Arts, and, later, in the Corcoran Art Gallery. The Peale 
family were always tenacious of their claim of ownershij) ; and, as the Regents 
of the Smithsonian could find no record to the contrarj', the picture was 
conceded to have been left with the National Institute by Count de Menou 
merely for safe keeping. The Joint Committee on the Librarj^ finally being 
convinced of its authenticity and of title in the heirs of Peale, purchased it 
in 1882 of Titian Ramsay Peale, son of the artist and assignee of the estate 
of Charles B. Calvert, for ^5,000. 



GROUND FLOOR 

Senate Wing. — East and west marble stairways lead from the main floor 
of the Senate wing to the ground floor. There are also two elevators, and two 
private stairways, whose railings are artistically wrought in bronze. The post- 
office of the Senate is now situated in the northeast corner. Over the entrance 
to this room, which was formerly occupied by the Committee on Patents, is 
pictured Robert Fulton upon a balcony overlooking the Hudson ; in the dis- 
tance is his pioneer steamboat, the Clermont, and beyond are the Palisades. The 
Senate restaurant occupies the space east of the main corridor of the Capitol, 
between the eastern and middle corridors of the wing. Both the Senate and 
House restaurants are open to the public, as well as to Senators and Members. 

Decoration of the Corridors. — The corridors are noticeable for their 
decorations in fresco, oils and "lime." Much of the beauty of these is 
lost, however, to appreciative eyes because of the bad lighting. Most of them 
were painted in the summer months ; for the Senators and Representatives 
strenuously objected to the presence of scaffolding in the building during 
sessions. A corps of artists assisted Brumidi in the execution. Each was 
employed for his excellence in a particular branch of art. One painted 
scroll-work only ; another devoted himself to animal painting, another to birds, 
another to flowers, and still another to landscapes. Some bits in oil, notably 
all the birds and small insects, are attributed to Leslie, an American painter. 
Brumidi himself painted all the figures, heads and groups, besides directing 
and overseeing the entire work. Nothing was done except by his approval, 
and all the designs, in drawing as well as color, were of his making. In these, 
Brumidi deserves praise for his use of animals. They have too long been 
neglected in the decorative arts, furnishing, as they do, such exquisite expres- 
sions of life — that one element necessary to the good and beautiful in all 
human effort as it is in Divine. 

The decorations of the ceilings of some of the committee rooms are dis- 
temper. Unlike in fresco, the plaster is dry when the colors are applied. 
These are ground to powder and mixed with water and glue to make them 
adhere to the wall. Unlike in fresco, too, it is not necessary for the artist to 
restrict himself to the use of mineral colors ; the range of the palette is the 
same as in oils. 

Many of the walls have been much marred by being scrubbed with sand 
soap 3 but, fortunately, the scrubbers have not been so solicitous for the cleanli- 



The National Capitol 183 

ness of Uncle Sam's property as to extend their efforts far above the easy reach 
of the arm. All things have their use, and this natural antipathy of some of the 
colored brethren to extended labors has undoubtedly been a blessing to the art 
of the Capitol, and saved much of the painting on the upper walls and ceil- 
ings unimpaired. Alas, for that within reach ! These decorations should be 
simply dusted, and otherwise untouched, if they are to be preserved. 

Committee Rooms. — Near the northern exit to the terrace are frescoes 
of the great American jurists, Kent and Story. Above some of the com- 
mittee room doors Brumidi has painted scenes suggestive of their occupants 
at the time. Over the door leading to the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
which was then devoted to Post-Ofhces and Post Roads, is Benjamin Franklin, 
the father of the postal system in this country, seated in his laboratory. 
Above the door directly opposite is John Fitch, hard at work upon his model 
of a steamboat. Above the door of the Committee on Post-Offices and Post 
Roads, then the quarters of the Committee on Foreign Relations, the artist 
has painted in fresco the scene of the signing of preliminary articles of peace 
between the United States and Great Britain, at Paris, November 30, 1782, 
by Richard Oswald on behalf of Great Britain and by John Adams, Benjamin 
Franklin, John Jay and Henry Laurens on behalf of the United States. On 
the walls within are medallion portraits of Clay, Allen, Cameron and Sumner, 
former chairmen of the committee. 

Over the door of the room occupied by the Committee on Territories is a 
fresco commemorative of the cession of Louisiana to the United States by 
France in 1803. The entrance, walls and ceiling of the room devoted to 
the Committee on Military Affairs are graced by some of Brumidi 's good 
work. Here is portrayed in fresco Generals Washington and Lafayette in con- 
sultation during the dark days of Valley Forge. The storming of Stony Point 
by Mad Anthony Wayne, the death of General Wooster at Danbury, Connecti- 
cut, the Boston Massacre of 1770, and Major Pitcairn at the battle of Lex- 
ington, ordering the rebels to disperse, also are graphically told. The panels 
made of small-arms are noticeably fine. General Logan, as chairman of the 
committee, many times presided in this room. The adjoining chamber, which 
was at one time the home of the Committee on Naval Affairs, is richly deco- 
rated, the frescoes on its ceiling representing Thetis, Venus, Amphitrite and 
America. The room at the opposite end of the corridor, formerly occupied by 
the Committee on Agriculture and now the headquarters of the Committee on 
Indian Affairs, bears vine and fruit pieces, with roguish cupids on its walls and 
ceiling. Above its entrance is a fresco of Columbus and an Indian maiden, one 
of Brumidi 's most unworthy contributions. Bartolome de Las Casas, the apostle 
of the red man, is pictured on the wall facing the foot of the western stairway. 

In the room of the Senate Committee on Rules hang a number of por- 
traits of rare interest. The most attractive of these is probably the one of 



1 84 The National Capitol 

Henry Laurens, president of the American Congress. This portrait, painted 
in 1 781, was purchased for the government by the Joint Committee on the 
Library. At the time its purcliase was under consideration, Mr. Hoar stated 
that the picture was painted by John Singleton Copley in the Tower of 
London, and that he thought it ought to be owned by the government. He 
said that it could be purchased for ^1,200. A portion of a letter is visible 
in Laurens's hand : " I have acted the part of a faith subject; I now go 
resolved still to labor for peace at the same time determined in the last event 
to stand or fall with my country. I have the honor to be Henry Laurens." 

A portrait of General Grant by Cogswell (1868) hangs on the same wall. 
This was bought from the family of Henry D. Cook for ^500. Here, also, at 
present, hangs a portrait of Pocahontas. This interesting picture was sent to 
the World's Fair by its owner in London with the purpose of presenting it to 
the government after the exposition. It is still in custom-house bond, how- 
ever, never having been presented to nor accepted by Congress. The inscription 
on the picture reads : " Matoaks ats Rebecca daughter to the mighty Prince 
Powhatan Emperor of Attanoughkomonck ats Virginia converted and baptised 
in the Christian faith and wife to the Worh. Mr. Tho : Rolff. " In a circle 
about the portrait we read : " Prince Powhatan imp : virginiae. Matoaka als 
Rebecka Filia Potentiss. Aetatis suae 21. Ao. 1616." 

H* ^ ^ T" 

Central Building-. — The main corridor running the entire length of the 
building upon this floor, with an exit to the marble terrace at either end, is 
nearly 750 feet in length. 

Consultation Room of Justices. — The first door upon the right, to the 
south of the annex which connects the old building with the Senate extension, 
leads to the private consultation room of the justices of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. Here they meet and consult before promulgation of 
their decisions. The room, similar to most of the committee rooms, contains 
a long consultation table with chairs about, but no decoration worthy of men- 
tion. It is never open to the public; and every precaution is taken to guard 
from foreign ears not only the councils in this chamber, but the final deter- 
minations of that learned body before they are pronounced in open Court. 
Saturday is the consultation day. It is only on rare occasions, of late years, 
that the justices find it necessary to consult at night, as was common in the 
earlier days of 'the Court, when four or five evening consultations were held 
during a week. Before the present chamber was fitted up, the justices met in 
a room convenient to their residences. 

Senate Barber Shop. — Next to the consultation room, on the same side 
of the hallway, is the Senate barber shop. Its window faces to the west. A 
portion of the room is occupied by the private bath-tubs for Senators. The 
attendants receive a stated salary for their services. 



The National Capitol 



185 



% 



^'-■^ t^ y--^-:-''^^ - 



^ 



In former days, the rooms on the west side of the main corridor nearly 
opposite the present Law Library were the ofiices of the Clerk of the Supreme 
Court. 

*' (.'oriicob *' Coliiinns. — Beyond, the main torridor widens into a cir- 
cular space, beneath the light well, from which a door to the east opens into 
a sort of vestibule. From this rise a stairway and private elevator, both of 
which lead to the open space before the office of the Marshal of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. The elevator was 
]nit in nominally for the exclusive use of the 
justices, but the age and failing health of Mr. 
Justice Field no doubt primarily led to the 
convenience. 

In this vestibule are noticeable six luiique 
columns, whose Americanized capitals might 
command attention on the score of a " Colum- 
bian order" of development in architecture. 
Why should not these designs made by Latrobe 
from the natural products of the country be as 
stimulating in artistic beauty and suggestion as 
the acanthus of Greece or the lotus of the 
Nile ? Jefferson, it is said, recognized and 
admired the efforts of the architect in this di- 
rection, and a similar capital, sent to him by 
Latrobe, is still in the hallway at INIonticello. 
The shafts are composed of bundles of the 

stalks of the maize or Indian corn rising out of a circlet of pointed leaves, the 
•joints winding spirally; the capitals are graceful designs of the leaves and of 
the opening, silk-tasselled ears, fillet-bound at the base. 

Tjaw Librai'y- — To the north of the exit door of the vestibule, formerly 
the principal entrance to the old Senate wing, lie the historic room and 
alcoves now filled with the Law Library. This Library was established as a 
separate institution, though still imder the direction of the Librarian of Con- 
gress, as it is also to-day, on July 14, 1S32, when it was moved into a room 
to the south of the main Library hall. In 184S, it was removed to a room on 
the ground floor northwest of the center of the Capitol, close to its present 
quarters ; and upon the removal of the Court, was again transferred, this time 
into the chamber lately occupied by the Court. In 1832, the number of law 
books was recorded as 2,011. To-day they number about 85,000 volumes, 
among which is a complete collet-tion of foreign, federal and State reports, 
with innumerable text-books and rare and unique expressions of law. The 
rules here regarding the books are nearly the same as in the general Congres- 
sional Library. 




i86 The National Capitol 

This Library room was the Chamber of tlie Supreme Court from 
1801 until the fire, and after the restoration, until i860, when that body 
moved into the old Senate Chamber upstairs, where it now sits. " The arches 
of the ceiling," writes Watterston in 1842, " diverge like the radii of a circle 
from a point near the loggea to the circumference. The light is admitted from 
the east and falls too full upon the attorney who is addressing the Court. 
This has, however, been somewhat softened by transparent curtains and Ve- 
netian blinds. On the wall in a recess in front of the bench, is sculptured, 
in bold relief, the figure of Jicstice * holding the scales, and that of Fame 
crowned with the rising sun, pointing to the Constitution of the United 
States. On a stone bracket attached to the pier of one of the arches on the 
left of the fireplace, is a fine bust, in marble, of Chief Justice 'Ellsworth, 
and on a similar bracket, on the right, is a marble bust of Chief Justice 
Marshall. The members of the bar are accommodated with mahogany desks 
and armed chairs, within the bar, which is about two feet below the level of 
the floor of the loggea and lobby, and the audience with sofas, settees, and 
chairs. The Judges have each a mahogany desk and chair." 

In speaking of the old Court room, Ben : Perley Poore says : "It is rich 
in tradition of hair-powder, queues, ruffed shirts, knee-britches and buckles. 
Up to that time no Justice had ever sat upon the bench in trousers nor had 
any lawyer ventured to plead in boots, nor wearing whiskers. Their Honors, 
the Chief-Justice and Associate Justices, wearing silk judicial robes, were 
treated with the most profound respect. When Mr. Clay stopped, one day, in 
an argument, and advancing to the bench, took a pinch of snuff from Judge 
Washington's box, saying, ' I perceive that your Honor sticks to the Skotch,' 
and then proceeded with his case, it excited astonishment and admiration. 
' Sir,' said Mr. Justice Story, in relating the circumstance to a friend, ' I do 
not believe there is a man in the United States who could have done that but 
Mr. Clay.' " 

Here were promulgated most of the great opinions of Chief Justice Mar- 
shall bearing upon Constitutional interpretation and other important ques- 
tions, which have so materially shaped, as precedents, the opinions of later 
days. Marshall was appointed Chief Justice when Secretary of State, January 
31, 1801, and continued in ofiEice until his death in 1835. Bryce, in his 
American Commonwealth, says : "■ Yet one man was so singularly fitted for the 
office of Chief Justice that the Americans have been wont to regard him as a 
special gift of favoring Providence. This was John Marshall, whose fame 
overtops that of all other American Judges more than Papinian overtops the 
jurists of Rome, or Lord Mansfield the jurists of England." 

* This crude, colored bas-relief is by Franzoni. The design is used upon the certifi- 
cates of admission to the Court. 



The National Capitol 187 

Harriet Martineau gives the following pen-i)icture of a scene in this room 
in 1835, while the great Chief Justice, a few months before his death, was 
delivering the opinion of the court : " At some moments this court presents a 
sin"-ular spectacle. 1 have watched the asseml^lage while the chief-justice 
was delivering a judgment; the three judges on either hand gazing at him 
more like learners than associates ; Webster standing firm as a rock, his large, 
deep-set eyes wide awake, his lips compressed, and his whole countenance in 
that intent stillness which instantly fixes the eye of the stranger; Clay leaning 
against the desk in an attitude whose grace contrasts strangely with the slov- 
enly make of his dress, his snuff-box for the moment unopened in his hand, 
his small gray eye and placid half-smile conveying an expression of pleasure 
which redeems his face from its usual unaccountable commonness; the attor- 
ney-general [Benjamin F. Butler of New York], his fingers playing among 
his papers, his quick black eye and thin tremulous lips for once fixed, his small 
face, pale with thought, contrasting remarkably with the other two ; these men, 
absorbed in what they are listening to, thinking neither of themselves nor of 
each other, while they are watched by the group of idlers and listeners around 
them ; the newspaper corps, the dark Cherokee chiefs, the stragglers from the 
Far West, the gay ladies in their waving plumes, and the members of either 
house that have stepped in to listen ; all these have I seen at one moment 
constitute one silent assemblage, while the mild voice of the aged chief-jus- 
tice sounded through the court." 

One of the earliest cases of importance tried within these walls was that 
of Marbury v. Madison, where it was held that a legislative act not in accord 
with the Constitution of the United States could be declared void by the 
courts. This was a doctrine new to governments, and marked a distinct step 
in the advancement of the rights of the people. Shortly after, Cohens v. Vir- 
ginia was argued, and the Court held that where a defence was made under a 
statute of the United States it was a case arising, within the meaning of the 
Constitution, '' under a law of the United States," and, therefore, cognizable 
by the Supreme Court on writ of error; and that, under the section of the 
Judiciary Act of 1789 relating to \vrits of error from State courts, the borough 
court of Norfolk, being the last court in the State to which the case could go, 
a writ of error might be taken direct to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. Owing to the destruction of the Capitol by the British, this room, 
however, lost Webster's great appeal for his alma mater. The famous Dart- 
mouth College case was tried in 1818, during the temporary sittings of the Court 
outside the Capitol. Within these narrow walls, loaded with tomes of law, 
the pale, studious, thin-lipped, large-browed Chief Justice Taney uttered the 
Dred Scott decision, which set the continent aflame. It held that a free 
negro of the African race, whose ancestors were brought to this country and 
sold as slaves, was not a " citizen " within the meaning of the Constitution. 



1 88 The National Capitol 

The Crypt. — The large circular chamber in the center of the building 
on the ground floor is known as the crypt. In this somber space are forty 
Doric columns of brown stone, which contribute to the support of the floor- 
ing of the immense rotunda above. In the center is a marble star, which is 
theoretically the center of the city of Washington as originally laid out in 
the plan of L' Enfant, but, practically, far otherwise. 

"Of course," writes Trumbull, recalling his proposed plans for the 
arrangement of this interior, " the staircase which I had recommended, to- 
gether with the fire-proof rooms for the preservation of important records, &c., 
were sacrificed, and instead of the concentric walls and simple arches of my 
plan, to support the floor of the great room, a wilderness of truncated columns 
and groined arches were employed for that purpose, and this wilderness, 
called the crypt, very soon degenerated into a stand for a crowd of female deal- 
ers in apples, nuts, cakes, liquors, &c., for the accommodation of hackney 
coachmen, servants, negroes, &c., and becoming an intolerable nuisance, was 
ultimately denounced as such by Mr. John Randolph, and abated." 

Washington Tomb and Statue. — Beneath the star in the center of the 
crypt is a tomb known as the " Washington Tomb." x'Vbove it, formerly, was 
a circular opening in the floor of the rotunda, evidently for the purpose of 
lighting the crypt and permitting visitors to look down upon the statue above 
the tomb as they now look down upon the sarcophagus of the first Napoleon 
at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, " where rest at last the ashes of that rest- 
less man." 

"A notion had long prevailed," writes Trumbull, about 1824, "that a 
statue of Washington must be placed in the Capitol — and where so well as 
under the centre of the dome, on the ground floor, where it would be always 
accessible to and under the eye of the people ; the ground floor might then 
become a magnificent aypf, and the monument of the father of his country, 
surrounded by those of her illustrious sons, might there seem still to watch 
over and to guard the interests of the nation which they had founded. The 
idea was poetical, grand, and captivating. 

"The statue being there, must be lighted, and as the projections of the 
porticos must necessarily screen all the light which might otherwise have been 
obtained from the arches between the piers of the ground floor, it was evident 
that the object could only be attained by letting down light from the summit 
of the dome ; and to effect this, it would be necessary also to pierce the floor 
of the grand room, with an opening large enough for the purpose, say twenty 
feet diameter, at least. These whims prevailed, and the project was adopted." 

As early as December 23, 1799, it was resolved by Congress that a marble 
statue be erected in the Capitol and that the family of General Washington 
be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it. The monument 
was to be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and 



The National Capitol 



189 



])olitical life. Washington had just passed away, and President John Adams 
transmitted a copy of the resolution to his widow, then at Mount Vernon, 
with assurances of the profound respect of Congress for her person and char- 
acter, and of their condolence in her late affliction. Mrs. Martha Washington 
responded by letter of December 31st, expressing her grateful acknowledg- 
ment and unfeigned thanks for the mournful tributes of respect and venera- 
tion paid to the memory of her deceased husband and consenting to the 
request of Congress. It was, no doul)t, made an exjiress or implied condition 
by her that, upon her own demise, she should be allowed to rest at the side of 
her honored husband in the na- 
tion's tomb. It is certain that 
in this belief Mrs. Washington 
directed that, upon her decease, 
her remains should be enclosed 
in 9, leaden cofifin similar to the 
one containing the ashes of her 
illustrious consort, a wish re- 
spectfully carried out at the time 
of her death. 

Various other resolutions were 
offered and considerable corres- 
pondence * carried on regarding 
the ceremonies of removal from 
Mount Vernon ; and the tomb 
was made ready. The year 1832 
arrived, however, without any 
such removal having taken place. 
In the early part of that year, the 
Legislature of the State of Vir- 
ginia, jealous of her hero resting in national soil, passed a resolution against it. 
The matter was determined by a letter, dated February 15, 1832, from John 
A. Washington, who was then the proprietor of Mount Vernon, denying the 
request made by Congress. In spite of the graceful way in which his reply was 
couched, it is the common report that a selfish motive only led him to the de- 
termination. The removal of the remains of the immortal Washington would 
certainly have much reduced the value of Mount Vernon in the public interest. 

The two following entries in the prolific diary of the second Adams throw 
some light upon this question : 

" Feb. i6th, 1832. — At the opening of the sitting of the House, the 
Speaker announced the correspondence between the Vice-President with him- 




THE WASHINGTON TOMB 



* For full account of the proceedings, see Appendix, p. 273, 



190 The National Capitol 

self and John A. Washington, the present proprietor of Mount Vernon, and 
George W. P. Custis, the grandson of Mrs. Martha Washington. John A. 
Washington declines giving permission that the remains of George Washing- 
ton should be removed from Mount Vernon, though Mr. Custis does consent 
that those of Mrs. Martha Washington should be removed. They must remain 
where they are. This affair is therefore now settled." 

" Feb. 22, 1832. — Centennial birthday of Washington. The solemnities 
intended for this day at this place lost all their interest for me by the refusal 
of John A. Washington to permit the remains of George Washington to be 
transferred to be entombed under the Capitol — a refusal to which I believe 
he was not competent, and into the real operative motives to which I wish 
not to inquire. I did wish that this resolution might have been carried into 
execution, but this wish was connected with an imagination that this federal 
Union was to last for ages. I now disbelieve its duration for twenty years, and 
doubt its continuance for five. It is falling into the sear and yellow leaf." 

At the time of his death the advisability of honoring Grant with a final 
resting-place in the " Washington Tomb " was agitated. The family, how- 
ever, who were then residing in New York, were averse to having the body 
interred elsewhere, and the State itself, like Virginia in the case of Washing- 
ton, was jealous of any interment which would remove her citizen-hero from 
her soil. Nothing came of it; and the tomb in the Capitol is still vacant, 
except for the simple bier of boards covered with black cloth which was used 
to support the remains of Lincoln, and which has been used for each citizen 
laid in state at the Capitol since that dark day. 

Court of Claims. — The Court of Claims, which was established Febru- 
ary 24, 1855, was organized and first sat in Willard's Hotel. Later it moved 
to the Capitol and occupied the suite of rooms below the Library, the Court 
holding its sessions in the large room looking west, to the north of the stair- 
way. About 1880, the Court moved from the Capitol to its present quarters 
in the Department of Justice. Up to March 3, 1887, in this Court only 
could the government be brought before the bar to plead, and even there in 
but a few prescribed cases. It differed from every other court in the United 
States; for they needed only the Executive to enforce their judgments, while 
the Court of Claims must have appropriations directly for the purpose from 
Congress or its judgments against the nation go unsatisfied. 

One of the rooms formerly devoted to the Court of Claims is now occupied 
by the Senate Committee on the Library. In it hangs a quaint portrait of 
Benjamin West by himself. This was purchased of Mr. Barlow, the dealer, 
in 1876. 

Offices of tlie CMef Clerk. — To the south of the so-called crv^pt, 
towards the wing of the House of Representatives, and opening from the 
main corridor, are the offices of the chief clerk of that body. The northeast 



/ 



The National Capitol '9^ 

room of this suite, in May, 1844, was the \Vashin'j;ton terminus of Morse's 
telegraph, connecting the Capitol with the railroad depot in Pratt Street 
between Charles and Light Streets, Baltimore, over which was transmitted the 
first telegraphic message in the world's history. Miss Annie G. Ellsworth, 
daughter of Henry L. Ellsworth, then Commissioner of Patents, was honored 
with the choice of the words of the message, as she had been the first to 
announce to Morse the good news of the passage of the bill appropriating the 
money to build the wire. She chose : " What hath Cod wrought ! " 

:i: * * * 

House AViiis'- — The House post-office and restaurant are upon this floor, 
east of the main corridor of the Capitol. The bath-rooms of the House 
also were formerly here, but have since been moved to the sub-basement 
near the furnace and engine rooms. Their space was incorporated into the 
restaurant. They are for the use of Representatives and certain employes 
of the building. Some of the tubs are made of solid blocks of marble, 
chiseled at the time of the erection of the extensions, but the majority are 
porcelain-lined. The two attendants, unlike those of the Senate who are 
exclusively for the comfort of Senators, wait upon both the Representatives 
and employes. 

Decoration. — The main corridor of the ground floor of the House is 
much enriched by colonnades of semi-Corinthian columns carved from fine 
Italian marble. The crowning section of each capital is designed from the 
American tobacco plant. The general want of decoration, however, through- 
out the entire wing is very noticeable by contrast with the northern end of 
the Capitol. 

The tradition is that during the construction of the south wing a lively 
fight occurred in committee over an appropriation bill for its completion. 
One of the clauses of the bill provided for the decoration of the House wing 
like the Senate wing and another for an increase of twenty per cent, in 
the salaries of the employes of the House. Mr. Humphrey Marshall, a Rep- 
resentative from Kentucky, who was a character in his way, as well as a 
man of force, was bitterly averse to enriching foreign artists, who would 
doubtless receive the majority of the contracts as they had in the Senate. 
He was a stanch friend of the American artists and aided them in securing 
the appointment of the Art Commission to control the decoration at the 
Capitol. He is said to have cleverly used, in the fight in committee, the 
proposed advance for the benefit of the employes as a lever with which to 
defeat the provision for decoration. This is especially interesting as he is 
still remembered as a principal figure at the collation, spread by the employes 
in one of the committee rooms to put the Members in good humor toward the 
increase, and as saying: "Boys, I'll eat your refreshments and drink your 
whiskey, — then vote against your compensation." And so the story goes that, 



192 



The National Cnpitol 



if it had not been for Mr. Humphrey Marshall, the employes would have had 
their increase, and the panels and niches of the House wing, as well as those 
of the Senate, would have been enriched with frescoes, oils and marbles. 

Coniinittee Rooms. — The mural decorations of the room of the Com- 
mittee on Ag-ricultiire, which is upon the west front, were the first work 
of Brumidi at the Capitol. They were done on probation, and were so satis- 
factory to the authorities that 
the entire remaining portion 
of the artist's life, some twen- 
ty-six years, was devoted as- 
siduously to the beautifying 
of the rotunda and the Senate 
wing. His work has so identi- 
fied him with the building that 
he may almost now be called 
the " Michael Angelo of the 
Capitol." On the ceiling 
are gracefully frescoed groups 
representing the four seasons. 
Spring, Summer, Autumn and 
Winter. On the east wall, 
the artist has told the story 
of Cincinnatus, called from 
the plow to govern Rome, and 
this he has rendered strik- 
ingly effective in suggestion 
by the similar event in Ameri- 
can history, depicted upon 
the west wall — the summon- 
ing of Putnam from the plow 
to accept a command in the 
Colonial army. Upon the 
south wall, the artist has placed a head of Washington, and beneath it a panel 
representing the primitive process of cutting grain with the old-fashioned 
sickle ; and opposite, a head of Jefferson, below which is a similar panel 
showing the improved style of harvesting to-day with the reaper. The four 
corners of the ceiling are enlivened with scroll-work and frescoes of pretty 
cherubs in imitation of marble. Brumidi completed the decoration of the 
room in 1855. The former room of the Committee on Territories, now used 
by the Committee on Elections, is decorated after designs by Leslie ; and that 
on Indian Affairs contains a collection of Eastman's oil paintings representing 
life among the Sioux. 




CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI 



The National Capitol 



193 



Bronze Stairways. — This lloor has two main stairways and two eleva- 
tors, as in the Senate wing, though one of these " lifts " rises at the south end 
of the western corridor, rather than at the west end of the northern. A pri- 
vate staircase leads from a hallway, opening off the eastern corridor, to the 
main lloor of the House; and there is another to the west, similar alike to 
the two which lead to the private lobby of the Senators. These are of marble 
with the exception of the railings, which are wrought in bronze. Brumidi 
made the attractive designs of the eagle, deer and cherubs for all of the rail- 
ings upon paper; they were then modeled by Charles Baudin, a Frenchman, 
and cast in Philadelphia. The drawings were after the Italian school, but 
Baudin changed them into the French style in working up the models, an 
alteration principally noticeable in the different way in which the scrolls and 
flowers are made apparently to grow out of one another. Archer, Warner, 
Miskey & Co. received $22,498.12 for the four railings; no one seems to 
know what the artists were paid for the designs. 




13 



THE HOUSE WING 



Speaker's Room. — The Speaker's 
room is at the head of the eastern pri- 
vate staircase of the House. There is 
nothing about its decoration in any way 
to distinguish it. The room is for the 
exclusive use of the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, for the pur- 
poses of consultation and office work, 
when at the Capitol. 

Speaker's Lobby. — The Speaker's 
lobby, a long narrow corridor, is di- 
rectly in the rear of the chamber of the 
House. Behind it is the Representa- 
tives' retiring room, furnished with com- 
fortable chairs and sofas upholstered in 
leather, whose windows overlook the 
grounds and city toward the Potomac. 
This room and the lobby occupy the 
same relative position to the House that 
the President's room, marble room, 
Vice-President's room and private lobby 
occupy to the Senate. Their uses, how- 
ever, are quite different. No person 
is permitted to enter them after the House convenes, unless he has the 
privilege of the floor. They are especially interesting, because they contain 
portraits of the various Speakers of the House of Representatives from 
the time of Frederick A. Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, the Speaker of 
the First and Third Congresses, which hangs on the south wall adjacent to 
the Speaker's room. Opposite hangs a portrait of Robert C. TVinthrop of 
Massachusetts, presented by citizens of that State after the delivery of his 
centennial oration, by appointment of Congress, at Yorktown, Virginia, on 
the 19th of October, 1881. The first portrait at the entrance to the lobby, 
near the Speaker's room, is that of John W. Jones of Virginia. Following 
it, upon the left, is James L. Orr of South Carolina. Within the first arch 
hangs Henry Clay of Kentucky, by Faynini. Then follow William Pen- 







\ 



The National Capitol 195 

uinprton of New Jersey, General .Tosopli R. A^ariniiu of Massachusetts, 
Kobert M. T. Hunter of Virginia, Amlrew SU>\«'iison of Virginia, TIico- 
dore Scdg'wic'k of Massachusetts and Scliuyler Colfax of Indiana; while 
within the last arch, corresponding with the one where hangs the portrait of 
Henry Clay, is an admirable portrait by John S. Sargent (1891) of Tlionias 
B. Koed of Maine, the present Speaker, who, as a parliamentarian, holds 
one of the most unique and conspicuous places in the public eye yet acquired 
by a Speaker of the House. In the retiring rooms, over the mantle, hangs the 
portrait of Jonathan Triinibull of Connecticut fame, the Speaker of the 
Second Congress. Directly opposite is that of Xathaniel P. Banks of 
Massachusetts ; while beyond the door, outside the lobby, is John Wliite 
of Kentucky. The first portrait upon the walls of the lobby next the cham- 
ber of the House, is that of <Jonathan I>ayton of New Jersey; opposite 
it hangs that of John AV. Taylor of New York, To the right of Dayton 
is John Boll of Tennessee. Then follow Philip P. Barbour of Virginia, 
Linn Boyd of Kentucky, Michael C. Kerr of Indiana, Samuel J. Ran- 
dall of Pennsylvania, James G. Blaine of Maine, Charles F. Crisp of 
Georgia, who was of a family of actors, and, as a boy, himself an actor, John 
G. Carlisle of Kentucky, Galusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania, J. Warren 
Keifer of Ohio, John AV. Davis of Indiana, Howell Cobb of Georgia, 
James K. Polk of Tennessee and Lang-don Clieves of South Carolina. 

It is interesting to notice that, of this long line of illustrious men who 
have received the high honor of being Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, one only, James K. Polk, has been elected to the greater, but often not 
so powerful, office of President of the United States. Many of them have 
sought the nomination from their parties ; several of them have been placed 
in nomination, but one only has reached the goal of his ambition, and he by 
far not the greatest. 

Committee Rooms and Offices. — The door at the west end of the 
Speaker's lobby leads to the hallway known as the west corridor of the House. 
At the south end of this corridor, until recently, were the offices of the Clerk 
and of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House. They are now occupied by the 
Committee on Appropriations, where originate all appropriation bills con- 
sidered by the House, excepting those relating to rivers and harbors, post- 
offices and post roads, the army and navy, and foreign affairs. Opening off the 
same corridor is the room which is devoted to the Committee on Rivers and 
Harbors. Directly north is the office of the journal, printing and file clerks 
of the House, where are preserved the original Messages which have been sent 
to that body by the Presidents from the time of the establishment of the 
government. 

AV^estward the Course of Kmpire takes itsAV'ay. — From the west cor- 
ridor, a grand marble staircase ascends to the galleries of the House. At its 



196 The National Capitol 

foot is a bronze bust by Vincenti of the Chippewa Chief, Beeshekee, the 
Buffalo. On the walls above the landing is the popular picture known as 
"Westward the Course of Empire takes its Way." It is the work of the genial 
German-born artist, Emanuel Leutze, an historical painter of some distinc- 
tion, and its title is a quotation from Bishop Berkeley. The scene is a pano- 
rama, impossible in extent, of western country. In the foreground are 
depicted the struggles and privations of an early wagon-train crossing a pass 
in the Rocky INIountains. Beyond are spouting geysers, grand canons and 
the El Dorado, stretching like a mirage of hope before the eyes of the weary 
travelers. The view is truly an inspiring one. 

In the fanciful border to the right, the artist has placed a portrait of 
Daniel Boone and, beneath it, the appropriate quotation from Jonathan M. 
Sewall's Epilogue to Cato : 

" The spirit moves with its allotted spaces, 
The mind is narrowed in a narrow sphere." ' 

The corresponding portrait, worked into the border upon the left, is that of 
Captain William Clarke, whose pioneer story is so fascinatingly told by Wash- 
ington Ir\dng. Its quotation also is from Sewall : 

" No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, ^ ^'i"^^ ^ 

But the whole boundless continent is ©urs. 



In the long narrow border beneath is seen the Golden Gate, the entrance to 
the harbor of San Francisco. 

We owe the picture in great part to General Meigs, who took the respon- 
sibility of contracting for it with the artist and who, for his pains, received 
at the time much criticism on the score of extravagance. A sharp contro- 
versy regarding his accounts also arose with the Auditor of the Treasury. It 
seems that there was some discrepancy in dates owing to the fact that, in disre- 
gard of the letter of the law, money had been advanced to the artist to enable 
him to visit the frontier for the purpose of studying its scenes and making 
his sketches from life. The great popularitv^ of the picture, however, com- 
pensates for the unkind reflections upon General Meigs, as it does also for its 
technical imperfections and totally impossible ensemble. 

The work is what is known as stereochromy, a process of wall painting 
brought to perfection by Kaulbach and others. The immediate basis is a 
thin layer of cement composed of powdered marble, dolomite, quartz and 
air-worn quicklime. Upon this the colors, mixed with water, are applied. 
They adhere but loosely ; and the artist, unlike in fresco, may work at leisure, 
and correct mistakes or hide blemishes at will. The colors are then fixed by 
applying a spray of water-glass solution, which, after a few days, gives to the 



The National Capitol 199 

surface hardness, transparency and a peculiar brilliancy of effect. The paint- 
ing finally is washed with alcohol to remove the eliminated alkali and dust. 
This style of decoration is practically proof against atmospheric influences. 
Leutze is said to have studied the mechanism of the method under Kaul- 
bach. 

The dullness in color is due to the partial failure of the artist properly 
to execute the method selected. The colors have so sunk into the wall as to 
lose the desired luster and leave a lifeless effect which materially detracts 
from the picture. Then, too, some of its best points are lost because the 
painting cannot be viewed from the proper distance. The contract for this 
work was executed in July, 1861. The artist worked rapidly and earnestly 
without regard to the great war that was then raging about the capital. The 
picture was completed in the autumn of 1862. The artist received ^20,000. 

Portrait of Marshall. — On the wall above the upper landing of this 
staircase is a full-length painting of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court of the United States, copied from the original by 
William D. Washington, a pupil of Leutze of Diisseldorf. Washington was 
a native of Fauquier County, Virginia, the county of Marshall, and the origi- 
nal of this picture was executed in the city of Washington under the imme- 
diate supervision and criticism of Leutze. It was a commission from the 
county of Fauquier, and now hangs in the County Court room over the judge's 
seat. It is regarded by the descendants of Marshall as the best likeness of 
him extant. The present copy was painted pursuant to an order of the Joint 
Committee on the Library in 1880 by Richard N. Brooke, the well-known 
Washington artist, who, like Marshall and Washington, is a native of Fauquier 
County. It is a literal reproduction both in details and technique of the 
original. W. D. Washington was a favorite of W. W. Corcoran, who founded 
for his benefit the chair of fine arts in the Virginia Military Institute at Lex- 
ington, a position which, upon the death of Washington, was filled by the 
appointment of Brooke. 

Chamber of the House of Representatives. — From any one of the 
galleries, the hall occupied by the Representatives appears, as it is, con- 
siderably larger than the Senate Chamber. It is 139 feet in length, 93 feet 
in width and 36 feet in height. The medallions of stained glass in the center 
of each square of the ceiling represent the coats-of-arms of the various States 
and Territories which comprise the Union. Beneath the galleries, but opening 
directly off the hall, are rooms known as the Republican and Democratic 
cloak rooms, where the Members of the House and its employes receive the 
attention of barbers and hang up their political hats. L'nlike in the tonsorial 
parlors of the Senate, its patrons are compelled to pay for shaving. 

The first House of Representatives consisted of 65 Members. Under the 
apportionment act of February 7, 1891, the number of Representatives from 



200 The Nationiil Capitol 

States already in the Union was limited to 356, and since that time, in 1896, 
Utah has been admitted. This makes the nmnber at present 357. besides the 
Delei^ates, one from each ot the Territories, Arizona, Oklahoma and New 
INIexico. who, however, have no vote. Had the body been left to increase in 
numbers imder the census of 1900, as it did under the census of 1890, the 
chamber would prove inadequate to the accommodation of the House. 

Each new House is called to order by the Clerk of the preceding House. 
One of the Representatives is elected Speaker, and sworn into office by the 
oldest Member, or •• Father of the House." The Speaker then administers 
the oath to the various Representatives, and the House is an organized body 
and ready for Inisincss. The Speaker receives |iS,ooo a year salary, and the 
Members each $5.000 — together with mileage from their homes to the capi- 
tal, and $125 for stationery each Congress. A like compensation is provided 
for Senators. In 1S73, Congxess increased the salaries to ^7,500 and made 
the law relate to the full Congress jiist expiring : but this law was almost 
immediately repealed bv^the incoming Congress under the jioptilar clamor 
against '* salary grabbers." 

The Speaker, who presides over the body, occupies the rostrum in the 
center of the south side of the room. The steps leading to this were for- 
merly crowded with pages, whom the Members summoned by clapping their 
hand's ; but, at the beginning of the Fifty-fourth Congress, benches for these 
floor-messengers were provided in the east and west cloak-rooms, and electric 
buttons attached to each of the desks. The Clerk of the House, the two 
reading clerks and the tally and journal clerks occ\ipy the marble desk in front 
of the Speaker, while the one below is assigned to the official stenographers, 
whose duties in taking and preparing its proceeding's for the J^cron/arc similar 
to those of the stenographers in the Senate. On the Speaker's right sits the 
Sergeant-at-Arms : on his left, the Doorkeeper. 

The center aisle of the hall is customarily the dividing line between the 
two great parties, the Democrats sitting upon the Speaker's right and the 
Republicans upon his left. In the present crowded condition of the House, 
manv of the Republicaiis are forced to sit upon the Democratic side in a row 
of seats which has become known as the " Cherokee Strip, or No Man's 
Land." From this center aisle one of the private secretaries to the Presi- 
dent announces the Messages of the Executive, and the Secretax}^ of the 
Senate anv communication which that honorable body may desire to send 
to the House. When a division is called, the tellers, appointed by the 
Speaker to count the votes, stand where this aisle broadens into the semi- 
circular space before the desk of the presiding officer, while the INIembers 
pass between them. At this bar. Congressmen are arraigned for non-attendance 
upon a " call " of the House. Here also are brought those in contempt of 
the House, prominent among whom has been Hallet Kilbourn, a private citizen. 



The National Capitol 



arrested for refusing to answer (|ucsli()ns propounded by a committee in regard 
to a c-ertain real estate " pool "in Washington. 

/ (iallerios. — The galleries have a seating capacity lor i,ioo persons. 
(I'hey are open to the pul)li( at any time when the House is in session, with 
tlie exception of those which are reserved for the press, the Cabinet and the 
diplomatic corps, and for the families and friends of Members. The cen- 
tral southern gallery, over the Speaker's chair, is the i)ress gallery, where 
the correspondents of the newsjiapers or news exchanges of this country and 
Europe which are represented 
at the C';i|Mt>)l \icwand make 
notes of the proceedings of 
thi- 1 louse. Ikhind it, ample 
means are provided to send 
by telegrai)h or telei)hone dis- 
patches to all ])arls of the 
world. 

Clock. — 1 )ire(t!y oppo- 
site the press gallery, over tlie 
main entrance to the chamber, 
is a bronze clock which has 
marked the dying hours of 
many sessions. Its hands 
have often been conveniently 
turnetl back to prolong a Con- 
gress until the business of the 

House could be finished. The figures are those of a pioneer and an Indian. 
Surmounting it is an eagle for which the government paid Archer, Warner, 
Miskey & Co. $150. 

Fm-nidirc. — On February 13, 1807, in discussing in the House an appro- 
I)riation oi $20,000 for the furnishing of their new chamber, where is now 
Statuary Hall, Mr, Jackson made the objection that, if approved, " the super- 
intendent would think himself obliged to procure gilded chairs and plated 
tables." Even if the tables were small, he said, " there would be so much 
the more room. As the present furniture was good for nothing else, it must, 
unless used by the Iloust, be jnit into a bonfire" ; and he was against the 
destruction of so much iirojjerty. Much laughter was caused by Mr. Masters 
declaring that they had " been toUl, formerly, that twenty thousand dollars 
was enough for all the fortifications in the United States." Mr. Lewis seemed 
to have no fears of waste, as the money was to be expended under the direc- 
tion of the President, and everj'one knew Jefferson's principles of economy. 
He added that, though he might never again be a Member, yet " if he did he 
should, he believed, be as willing to sit on a stool as other gentlemen. But 




202 The National Capitol 

the present furniture would not suit the new chamber in the south wing." 
This proved to be correct, for when the House moved and the desks were 
taken from the chamber where it had been sitting, Latrobe says : "It was 
found utterly impracticable either to place the desks on the new platforms, 
or to accommodate the platforms to the desks, without destroying all con- 
venience within the House." $2,164.66 out of the $17,000 which had 
finally been appropriated for fitting up the new hall were therefore expended 
in purchasing new and better desks. Similar desks were adopted after the 
restoration. 

When the House first moved into its present chamber, the Members were 
accommodated with handsomely carved oaken desks and chairs. These were 
later removed; and for one session, benches similar to those in the House 
of Commons were used, with desks for writing in the corners of the room. 
These were quite inadequate, however, to the Members' spirit of indepen- 
dence and desire for elbow-room. Upon the removal of the benches, the 
former desks were replaced, but were later succeeded by the present school- 
boy desks. Some of the old benches are still to be seen in the Supreme 
Court chamber, where they are used for the accommodation of visitors. Of 
late years, a new moquette carpet has been laid upon Ihe floor before the 
assembling of each new Congress. 

Paintings. — One day, a boy was working in a blacksmith's shop near 
Kingston, New York. Up rode a horseman whose horse had cast a shoe. His 
attention was caught by a rough charcoal sketch upon a neighboring barn door. 
" Who drew that ? " asked the horseman. " I did it," said the lad. " Put 
a clean shirt in your pocket, come to New York, and call upon me," said the 
stranger. Some weeks later, the gentleman was breakfasting at his home, 
" Richmond Hill." A parcel was handed him. It contained a coarse shirt, 
and attached to it was his address in his own handwriting. He welcomed 
the blacksmith's apprentice into his family, and helped him to an education 
in the arts. Some years later, the horseman was an exile in France — " a man 
without a country." The lad was famous. He did not forget his benefactor. 
The horseman was Aaron Burr ; the lad, John Vanderlyn. 

The full-length painting of Wasliing-ton to the left of the Speaker's 
chair is by this artist. The tradition is that, when the picture of Lafayette was 
presented to the government and placed on one side of the Speaker's chair in 
the old hall, the necessity for one upon the opposite side to balance it was 
apparent. Vanderlyn was accordingly commissioned to paint a picture of 
Washington as a companion-piece; and he painted this, with slight altera- 
tions, from the painting by Gilbert Stuart, his former master, on the walls 
of the White House. The likelihood of this story seems to be borne out by 
a careful comparison of the present painting with that on the walls of the 
Executive Mansion. 



The National Capitol 203 

The corresponding picture to the right of the Speaker is of Lafayette, from 
the bnish of Ary SchefTer, the great Dutch painter, who was a personal friend 
and political supporter of the Frenchman. It was executed at the order of 
Lafayette himself, who brought it to this country in 1824, upon his second 
visit to the United States, and presented it to Congress. 

The California laurtiscapc upon the extreme left is by All)ert T^ierstadt. 
Many think it represents what might be styled the natal day of the Upper 
California mission. In 1601, Viscaino, the exjdorer, visited that coast. 
" We have already observed," writes Torquemada, " that on the i6th of 
December the squadron put into this port which was called Monte-rey, 
in honour of the count de Monte-rey, viceroy of New Spain; by whom they 
had been sent on this discovery, pursuant to his Majesty's orders. The 
next day the general directed preparations to be made, that the fathers 
Andrew de la Assumpcion and Antonio de la Ascencion, might say mass dur- 
ing their stay there. The church was erected under a large oak close to the 
sea side, and within twenty paces of it were some wells affording plenty of 
excellent water." Others, however, ably contend that Bierstadt intended 
here to celebrate with his brush the spot where Spanish tradition says Junipero 
Serra, the " Father of California," surrounded by his disciples, first said 
mass at Monterey in 1769, under an oak on the shores of the beautiful bay. 
If we were to ask the artist himself as to his meaning, he would, no doubt, 
evade the question, as the poet Browning cleverly evaded a similar inquiry : 
" Ask the Browning Societies. They know." The artist demanded $40,000 
apiece for two paintings for the Hall of Representatives. He received 
;^io,ooo each for this and the one on the right of the Speaker's chair. 

The painting to the right, purchased in 1875, has for its theme the Dis- 
covery of the Hudjson by Hendrik Hudson, an Englishman then in the 
employ of the Dutch East India Company. Bierstadt is an intellectual rather 
than an emotional painter. There is little play of fancy in his work. In his 
landscapes he follows the Diisseldorf school. " Having received a Govern- 
ment Commission," writes Tuckerman, " Bierstadt sailed for Europe, in 
June, 1867, to make some studies for a picture of the discovery of the North 
River by Henry Hudson, — a subject admirably adapted to his pencil, and 
to national historical landscape. It was because of his conviction that the 
patient and faithful study of Nature is the only adequate school of landscape 
art that Bierstadt, like Cole and Church, fixed his abode on the banks of the 
Hudson. His spacious studio, but recently erected, commands a beautiful 
and extensive view of the noble river, in the immediate vicinity of the Tap- 
pan Zee and the Palisades. Wandering through the fields there, one summer 
day, we looked back from the brow of a hill upon one of those magnificent 
yet unusual sunsets, no where beheld so often as on this Western continent ; 
a friend at our side remarked : ' If it were possible to transfer these brilliant 



204 The National Capitol 

lines and this wontlorful cloud-picture to canvas — how few wouUl regard the 
work as a genuine reflex of a sublime natural effect ! ' Just at that moment, 
in turning the angle of an orchard, we came in sight of l^ierstadt. seated on 
a camp-stool, rapidly and with skilful eagerness depicting the mar\ clous sunset, 
as a studv for future use ; and the incident was but another evidence of the 
wisdom and tulelitv of his method in seeking both his subjects and inspira- 
tion dirccth I'roiu Natm-c." 

The pictmcon the extreme right represents a scene at the liojuhiuartoris of 
AViishiiiii'tou at Yorktown on CX'tober 17, lySv. The American general is 
represented standing, in the act of receiving a letter which has come through 
the lines mider a Hag of truce. Lord Cornwallis sues for cessation of hostili- 
ties tor twentv-four hours that commissioners may be appointed to settle 
upon terms of surrender. Washington, however, seeing in this a mere subter- 
fuge to await the arrival of a tleet ex]iected at any moment with reenforce- 
ments from New York commanded by Sir James Clinton, grants CornwaJlis 
but two horn's, stipulating that, at the end of that time, he must transmit 
definite proposals in writing. Thus battled in his designs, the 1'riti.sh com- 
maneler complied with Washington's demands. The final surrender took place 
on the loth : and iiot until that dav did Clinton sail from New York. When, 
on the J4th. he arri\ed and learned of the sm'render, he returned immediately 
to the north. 

This work is in fresco. The painter, inqued at the bitter attacks made 
upon the foreign artists, contrary to his usual custom, for he did not often 
sign his work, wrote boldly in the right-hand lower corner, " C. Bnunidi, 
Artist, Citizen of the I". S.." as if to emphasize his citizenship and patriot- 
ism. The painting thus signed is one of those least worthy of his name. 

]>lai(len Spoccli of the C'liaiuber. — ''The i6th of December, 1857," 
writes S. S. Cox, in his Three Decades of Federal Legislation, " is memo- 
rable in the annals of Congress. Looking back to that day, the writer can 
see the members of the House of Representatives take up the line of march 
out of the old shadowy and murmurous chamber, into the new hall with its 
ornate and gilded interior. The scene is intense in a rare dramatic quality. 
Above shine in varv-colored lights, the escutcheons of thirty States ; around 
sit the membei-s upon richly carved oaken chairs. Already arrayed upon 
either side are the sections in mutual animosity. The Republicans take the 
left of the Speaker, the Democrats the right. James L. C~)rr, of South Caro- 
lina, a full roseate-faced gentleman of large build and ringing metallic voice 
is in the chair. James C. Allen, of Illinois, sits below hini in the (."lerk's 
desk. The Rev. INIr. Carothers otYers an a]'>propriate and inspiring prayer. 
He asks the Divine favor upon those in authority ; and then, with trembling 
tones, he implores that the hall just dedicated as the place wherein the politi- 
cal and constitutional rights of om- countrvmen shall ever be maintained and 



The National Capitol 



205 




CHAMBKR OF THE HOl'SH OF RKPRESKNTATIVHS 



(IrffinK'd, may be a tcniplr of honor anil ijlorv to this himl. ' Nfay the dclil)- 
t-rations therein make our nation the ])raise of the whole earth, for Christ's 
sake.' A solemn hush succeeds this invocation. The routine of journal 
reading; a reference of the Agricultural College bill, ui)on the request of 
the then-member, now Senator, from Vermont, Justin L. Morrill ; and the 
presentation of a communication regarding the chaplaincy from the clergy of 
A\'ashington ; are followed liy the drawing of seats for the members, who 
retire to the open s]iace in the hall. A ]iage with bandaged eyes makes the 
award, and one by one the members are seated. Then, by the courtesy of the 
chairman of the Printing Committee, Mr. Smith of Tennessee, a young mem- 
ber from Ohio is allowed to take the floor. He addresses the Speaker with 
timidity and modesty, amid many interruptions by Humphrey Marshall, of 
Kentucky, Mr. Hocock, of \'irginia, Judge Hughes, of Indiana, George W. 



2o6 The National Capitol 

Jones, of Tennessee, and General Whitman, of Mississippi, each of whom 
bristles with points of order against the points of the orator. But that young 
member is soon observed by a quiet House. Many listen to him — perhaps to 
judge of the acoustic property of the hall, some because of the nature of the 
debate ; and then, after a few minutes, all become excited ! Again and again 
the shrill and high tones of Mr. Speaker Orr are heard above the uproar. He 
exclaims : ' This is a motion to print extra copies of the President's Message. 
Debate on the subject of the message is, therefore, in order — upon which the 
gentleman from Ohio has the floor ! ' That gentleman is now the writer. His 
theme was the Lecompton Constitution. As the questions discussed involved 
the great issues leading to war or peace, his interest in the mise-en-scene 
became less ; but his maiden speech — the maiden speech in the new chamber 
— began under influences anything but composing." 

Notable Events. — As this chamber is occupied by the Representatives, 
in it originate, according to the Constitution, all bills for raising revenue and, 
by custom, most bills appropriating money out of the Treasury of the United 
States. Eulogies are held here in honor of Senators and Representatives who 
die while in Congress ; the proceedings are not only printed in the Recoj'd, 
but for distribution. 

The memorial address on the life and character of Abraham Ijincolii 
was delivered by George Bancroft in the chamber of the House on the 12th of 
February, 1866, at the request of both Houses of Congress. The assemblage, 
both official and civil, as well as the historian-orator, was an honor to the 
nation's greatest dead. The Marine Band occupied the ante-room behind the 
reporters' gallery, and discoursed appropriate music. 

On Tuesday evening, April 16, 1872, a large number of distinguished 
people assembled here to do the last honor to the scientist, Samuel Fiuley 
Breese Morse, LL. D. The memorial services were conducted under the 
direction of the National Telegraph Memorial Monument Association and of 
a committee appointed by the House. His portrait, painted by Bendan of 
Baltimore, framed in black and wreathed with evergreens, looked down from 
the parapet of the gallery facing the Speaker. On it were the words : " What 
hath God wrought!" Immediately behind was the Marine Band. The 
" Choral Society" were upon the floor in front. On the Speaker's right sat 
Vice-President Colfax. President Grant and his Cabinet, several members 
of the deceased's family and the Supreme Court of the United States and of 
the District of Columbia occupied the front row of seats before the Speaker. 
At the Clerk's desk, telegraphic instruments ticked ceaselessly another and 
yet more vivid tribute to the mute but ever-living dead. James A. Garfield 
and S. S. Cox were among those who addressed the reverent throng. After 
the prayer, Mr. Speaker Blaine opened the ceremonies with the words : " Less 
than thirty years ago a man of genius and learning was an earnest petitioner 



The National Capitol 207 

before Congress for the small pecuniary aid that enabled him to test certain 
occult theories of science which he had laboriously evolved. To-night the 
Representatives of forty millions of people assemble in their legislative hall 
to do homage and honor to the name of Morse." 

Seven years later, at eight o'clock on Thursday evening, January i6th, the 
Senate and House assembled in the same chamber to perform a similar mourn- 
ful duty in honor of another scientist dead. Samuel J. Randall, as Speaker, 
called the body to order, and then presented the gavel to Vice-President 
Wheeler, who was to preside with his support. President Hayes with mem- 
bers of his Cabinet occupied the front seats to the right, the Chief Justice 
and associate justices corresponding seats to the left. To more fully bespeak 
the honor thus conferred upon the memory of Joseph Henry, late Secre- 
tary of the Smithsonian Institution, we have but to remember that William 
T. Sherman, James A. Garfield, S. S. Cox and Asa Gray, the botanist, added 
to the occasion the tribute of their words. The eulogium of Hannibal Ham- 
lin, because of his unavoidable absence, was read by the Vice-President. 

Here, on Monday, the 27th of February, 1882, occurred the exercises in 
commemoration of the life and character of James A. Garfield, the eulo- 
gium being pronounced at the special invitation of Congress by James G. 
Blaine. John Sherman was chairman of the committee on the part of the 
Senate ; William McKinley, Jr., on the part of the House. The assemblage, 
which filled to their capacity the floor and galleries, was among the most 
notable ever gathered within the walls of the Capitol. The Senators attended 
in a body, as well as justices of the Supreme Court of the United States and 
many distinguished in the army, the navy and civil life, out of respect to the 
martyred President. 

One of the most impressive funeral ceremonies which have taken place at 
the Capitol was that in honor of Chief Justice Waite, in the Hall of 
Representatives, March 28, 1888. At twelve o'clock, the casket was borne 
through the east doors into the rotunda, where it was placed upon two stools 
awaiting the formation of the procession to the House. There the hea\y 
chairs of Russia leather from the Speaker's lobby had been arranged before 
his desk about the spot reserved for the casket. President Cleveland and his 
Cabinet, the Lieutenant-General of the army, Rear-Admiral Porter, diplomats 
and others distinguished in law, legislation, letters and war filled the hall in 
tribute to the departed. Mr. Ingalls, President pro tempore of the Senate, 
sat upon the Speaker's right. Bishop Paret and six assistants in Episcopal 
robes entered the door and stood silently in the aisle while the cortege formed 
behind them. " I am the Resurrection and the Life," rang out again and 
again through the great legislative hall in the impressive voice of the Bishop 
as the procession moved down the aisle. The Congressional committee wore 
white sashes with crape rosettes. The casket was borne by messengers of the 



2o8 The National Capitol 

Court. Behind it came members of tiie bereaved family, followed by the 
justices. The choir of Epiphany Church sang the funeral chant, " Lord, let 
me know mine end," as the casket was placed upon the bier. The Episcopal 
funeral service was pronounced from the Clerk's desk. As the Bishop read 
the " Apostles' Creed," the vast audience upon the floor and in the galleries 
arose, many uniting their voices in the solemn service. The hymn, " Abide 
with Me," was sung during the ceremony, and as the cortege left the chamber 
at the completion of the exercises, a little before one o'clock, the words of 
" Asleep in Jesus " reverberated softly through the great hall. 

The Electoral Count. — The President and Vice-President are not truly 
elected until the votes cast by the electors chosen by the people of the several 
States are counted, according to the Constitution, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, and the Vice-President declares that 
each has received the requisite majority of ballots. This ceremony custo- 
marily takes place in the House Chamber. First, the Doorkeeper of the 
House announces the arrival of the Vice-President and Senate, preceded by a 
half dozen Capitol police and by a doorkeeper of the Senate, who bears two 
cherry boxes in which are the electoral votes still sealed just as they were 
delivered to the Vice-President by the special messenger of each State. The 
Secretary of the Senate escorts the Vice-President to the Speaker's chair. 
They are followed down the aisle by the two Senators who are to act as tellers 
on behalf of the Senate, and by the remaining Senators, two by two, to whom 
are assigned the front rows of seats on the right of the Speaker. Two keys 
are then placed upon the Speaker's desk by the Secretary, with which the 
Vice-President opens the boxes. From these he takes long bro^vn envelopes, 
each marked with the name of its State, and for the first time breaks their 
inner wrappers. The enclosed certificates are then read — that only, however, 
from Alabama, as it is the first in the alphabetical list, in full — and given to 
the tellers, of whom there are two also on the part of the House. When all 
are opened, the tellers announce the number of votes for each candidate, the 
Secretary gathers up the originals of the certificates and the duplicates taken 
from the second box, and the Vice-President declares the result. Then falls 
the gavel, and the electoral count is finished. In a few moments, the House 
resumes its session. An amusing incident occurred at the count in 1893. 
Vice-President Morton was unable to find one of the keys, and only after con- 
siderable search and much discomfiture at last discovered it in his own vest 
pocket. 

House Library. — The House Library is in the upper story of the annex, 
north of the main corridor on the gallery floor. It contains the records of 
every Congress from the first to the present one, state papers, the Exeaitive, 
Senate and House Doamierits, and the Statutes at Large — an invaluable col- 
lection for studious Members. 



The National Capitol 209 

Portraits of Clay, BodfVu-d and Carroll. — A fuU-lent^th portrait of 
Henry Clay, executed by Jno. Nagle in 1843 ^"'1 purchased for Si, 500, hangs 
on the wall above the eastern staircase. To the right and left, respertivcly, 
are portraits of Gunning Bedford of Delaware and of Charles Carroll, the 
signer of the Declaration of Independence. When Hancock asked the latter 
if he would sign, he answered : " Most willingly," and taking a pen, at once 
put his name to the instrument. "There go a few millions," said one of 
those who stood by ; and all present agreed that in point of fortune few risked 
more than Charles Carroll of Carrollton. At the time of the purchase of the 
picture, in 1868, Mr. John B. Latrobe and Mr. John Robertson, an artist of 
Baltimore, wrote letters giving a brief history of it and certifying to its artistic 
merits and authenticity as one of Sully's. One thousand dollars was paid for it. 

Proclaiiiation of EiuaiK'ipation. — On the wall above the landing of 
the staircase is the much-copied painting by Frank Carpenter of New York, 
known as the Signing of the Proclamation of Fhiiancipation. This picture, 
painted at the White House in 1S64, represents the meeting of the Cabinet 
there, in the room set apart for such meetings, when President Lincoln read 
his Proclamation of the 22d of September, 1862. Lincoln is in the fore- 
ground, presiding at the head of the long table, in his left hand the great 
Proclamation, and in his right a quill pen, which, on this occasion, was truly 
"mightier than the sword." Behind the President, on his right, stands 
Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, by whom is seated Edwin M. 
Stanton, Secretary of War. Upon Lincoln's left sits William H. Seward, 
Secretary of State ; while at the rear, in the center of the painting, sits 
Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. On the extreme right, Edward Bates, 
Attorney-General, is also seated at the table ; and of the two Cabinet officers 
standing together in the background, the taller is Montgomery Blair, Post- 
master-General, and the other, Caleb Smith, Secretary of the Interior. 

.When the artist first met President Lincoln, at a reception at the White 
House, he was welcomed with these words: "Oh, yes; I know; this is the 
painter." Then straightening himself to his full height, with a twinkle in 
his eye, the President added playfully : " Do you think, Mr. Carpenter, that 
you can make a handsome picture of ///t'/" Carpenter describes his next 
interview with the Executive in this wise : " He received me pleasantly, 
giving me a seat near his own arm-chair ; and after having read Mr. Lovejov's 
note, he took off his spectacles, and said, ' Well, Mr. Carpenter, we will turn 
you in loose here, and try to give you a good chance to work out your idea.' 
Then, without paying much attention to the enthusiastic expression of my 
ambitious desire and purpose, he proceeded to give me a detailed account of 
the history and issue of the great proclamation. Having concluded this 
interesting statement, the President then proceeded to show me the various 
positions occupied by himself and the different members of the Cabinet, on 
14 



2IO The National Capitol 

the occasion of the first meeting. ' As nearly as I remember,' said he, * I sat 
near the head of the table ; the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 
of War were here, at my right hand; the others were grouped at the left.' 

" At this point I exhibited to him a pencil sketch of the composition as I 
had conceived it, with no knowledge of the facts or details. The leading 
idea of this I found to be entirely consistent with the account I had just 
heard. I saw, however, that I should have to reverse the picture, placing the 
President at the other end of the table, to make it accord with his descrip- 
tion. I had resolved to discard all appliances and tricks of picture-making, 
and endeavor, as faithfully as possible, to represent the scene as it actually 
transpired; room, furniture, accessories, all were to be painted from the actu- 
alities. It was a scene second only in historical importance and interest to 
that of the Declaration of Independence ; and I felt assured, that, if honestly 
and earnestly painted, it need borrow no interest from imaginary curtain or 
column, gorgeous furniture or allegorical statue. Assenting heartily to what 
is called the ' realistic ' school of art, when applied to the illustration of his- 
toric events, I felt in this case, that I had no more right to depart from the 
facts, than has the historian in his record. 

" The general arrangement of the group, as described by the President, 
was fortunately entirely consistent with my purpose, which was to give that 
prominence to the different individuals which belonged to them respectively 
in the Administration. There was a curious mingling of fact and allegory in 
my mind, as I assigned to each his place on the canvas. There were two ele- 
ments in the Cabinet, the radical and the conservative. Mr. Lincoln was 
placed at the head of the official table, between two groups, nearest that rep- 
resenting the radical, but the uniting point of both. The chief powers of 
government are War and Finance : the ministers of these were at his right, — 
the Secretary of War, symbolizing the great struggle, in the immediate fore- 
ground ; the Secretary of the Treasury, actively supporting the new policy, 
standing by the President's side. The Army being the right hand, the Navy 
may very properly be styled the left hand of the government. The place for 
the Secretary of the Navy seemed, therefore, very naturally to be on Mr. Lin- 
coln's left, at the rear of the table. To the Secretary of State, as the great 
expounder of the principles of the Republican party, the profound and saga- 
cious statesman, would the attention of all at such a time be given. Entitled 
to precedence in discussion by his position in the Cabinet, he would necessa- 
rily form one of the central figures of the group. The four chief officers of 
the government were thus brought, in accordance with their relations to the 
Administration, nearest the person of the President, who, with the manu- 
script proclamation in hand, which he had just read, was represented leaning 
forward, listening to, and intently considering the views presented by, the Sec- 
retary of State. The Attorney-General, absorbed in the constitutional ques- 



The National Capitol 211 

tions involved, with folded arms, was placed at the foot of the table oppo- 
site the President. The Secretary of the Interior and the Postmaster-General, 
occupying the less conspicuous positions of the Cabinet, seemed to take their 
proper places in the background of the picture." 

" When, at length," continues the artist, " the conception as thus described 
was sketched upon the large canvas, and Mr. Lincoln came in to see it, his 
gratifying remark, often subseciuently repeated, was, ' It is as good as it can 
be made.' 

" It is not too much to say that the enthusiasm in which the work was con- 
ceived, flagged not to the end. The days were too short for labor upon it. 
Lighting at nightfall the great chandelier of the state dining-room, which was 
finally assigned me for a studio instead of the library, where the windows were 
shaded by the portico, the morning light frequently broke in upon me still 
standing pencil or palette in hand, before the immense canvas, unable to break 
the spell which bound me to it. ' We will turn you in loose here,' proved an 
* open sesame ' to me during the subsequent months of my occupation at the 
White House. My access to the official chamber was made nearly as free as 
that of the private secretaries, unless special business was being transacted. 
Sometimes a stranger, approaching the President with a low tone, would turn 
an inquiring eye toward the place where I sat, absorbed frequently in a pencil 
sketch of some object in the room. This would be met by the hearty tones of 
Mr. Lincoln, — I can hear them yet ringing in my ears, — ' Oh, you need not 
mind him; he is but a painter.' There was a satisfaction to me, differing 
from that of any other experience, in simply sitting with him. Absorbed in 
his papers, he would become unconscious of my presence, while I intently 
studied every line and shade of expression in that furrowed face. In repose, 
it was the saddest face I ever knew." 

It is not necessary to tell the story of the six months of incessant labor 
spent by the artist at the White House upon this work, nor to repeat the 
encomiums or criticisms of the press and public upon the painting during the 
days when it hung in the East Room, by the kind permission of the President, 
in order that the people might have an opportunity to see and enjoy it. The 
final view of the picture taken by the Executive and the artist together before 
the latter's farewell to his work at the Executive Mansion is characteristic of 
the great war-President in his relations to men in far diverging walks of life, 
and shows him in the new light of an art critic: "Turning to me," writes 
the artist, "President Lincoln said: 'Well, Carpenter, I must, go in and 
take one more look at the picture before you leave us.' So saying, he accom- 
panied me to the East Room, and sitting down in front of it, remained for 
some time in silence. I said that I had at length worked out my idea, as he 
expressed it at our first interview, and would now be glad to hear his final 
suggestions and criticism. 



212 The National Capitol 

" ' There is little to find fault with,' he replied; ' the portraiture is the 
main thing, and that seems to me absolutely perfect.' 

" I then called his attention afresh to the accessories of the picture, stat- 
ing that these had been selected from the objects in the Cabinet chamber with 
reference solely to their bearing upon the subject. ' Yes,' said he, ' there are 
the war-maps, the portfolios, the s/ave-map, and all ; but the book in the 
corner, leaning against the chair-leg, — you have changed the title of that, I 
see.' 'Yes,' I replied; 'at the last moment I learned that you frequently 
consulted, during the period you were preparing the Proclamation, Solicitor 
Whiting's work on the ' War Powers of the President,' and as Emancipation was 
the result in fact of a military necessity, the book seemed to me just the thing 
to go in there; so I simply changed the title, leaving the old sheepskin cover 
as it was.' ' Now,' said he, ' Whiting's book is not a regular law-book. It 
is all very well that it should be there; but I would suggest that as you have 
changed the title, you change also the character of the binding. It now looks 
like an old volume of United States Statutes.' I thanked him for this criti- 
cism, and then said : ' Is there anything else that you would like changed or 
added?' 'No,' he replied, and then repeated very emphatically the ex- 
pression he used when the design was first sketched upon the canvas : ' It is as 
good as it can be made.' 

" I then referred at some length to the enthusiasm in which the picture 
was conceived and had been executed, concluding with an expression of my 
profound appreciation of the very unusual opportunities afforded me in the 
prosecution of the work, and his unvarying kindness and consideration 
through the many weeks of our intercourse. 

" He listened pensively, — almost passively, to me, — his eyes fastened 
upon the picture. As I finished he turned, and in his simple-hearted, ear- 
nest way, said : ' Carpenter, I believe I am about as glad over the success of 
this work as you are.' And with these words in my ear, and a cordial ' good- 
bye ' grasp of the hand, President and painter separated." 

In his masterly lecture upon Abraham Lincoln, Colonel Robert G. Inger- 
soll tells an anecdote which throws a humanizing ray upon this canvas : " On 
the 22d of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word to the members of his cabinet that 
he wished to see them. It so happened that Secretary Chase was the first to 
arrive. He found Lincoln reading a book. Looking up from the page, the 
President said : ' Chase, did you ever read this book ? ' ' What book is it ? ' 
asked Chase. ' Artemus Ward,' replied Lincoln. 'Let me read you this 
chapter, entitled " JVax IVurx in Albany. '' ' And so he began reading while 
the other members of the cabinet one by one came in. At last Stanton told 
Mr. Lincoln that he was in a great hurry, and if any business was to be done 
he would like to do it at once. Whereupon Mr. Lincoln laid down the open 
book — opened a drawer, took out a paper and said : ' Gentlemen, I have 




/ s J \ 

yM4 








PROPOSED BRONZE DOORS — HOUSE WING 



The National Capitol 215 

called you together to notify you what I have determined to do — I want no 
advice. Nothing can change my mind.' 

"He then read the Proclamation of iMiianciijation — Chase thought there 
ought to be something about (iod at the close, to which Lincoln replied: 
' Put it in, it won't hurt it.' It was also agreed that the President would 
wait for a victory in the field before giving the Proclamation to the world. 

"The meeting was over, the members went their way. Mr. Chase was 
the last to go, and as he went through the door looked back and saw that Mr. 
Lincoln had taken up the book and was again engrossed in the JJax U'lirx at 
Albany y 

This painting was purchased from l-'rank H. Carj^enter, the artist, for 
$25,000, and was formally presented to Congress, February 12, 187S, by Mrs. 
Elizabeth Thompson, for which she received its thanks through a joint 
resolution, approved February ist. The ceremony of acceptance was quite 
impressive. During the short recess just preceding, the picture, which, 
covered with the American flag, had been suspended back of the Speaker's 
chair, was unveiled. At two minutes before two o'clock, the House came to 
order. The Senate, preceded by the Vice-President and accompanied by its 
Sergeant- at-Arms, entered the hall in a body and took the seats assigned to 
it. The donor and the artist were honored with seats upon the floor. The 
Vice-President sat upon the right of the Speaker. Garfield, a Northern gen- 
eral, made the presentation speech. He was followed by Stephens, formerly 
the Vice-President of the Confederacy. The thanks of Congress conferred 
upon Mrs. Thompson the privilege of the floor of the House during any of its 
sessions. Only one other woman has been similarly honored, Dolly Madison, 
the wife of President Madison, who received the thanks of the House in 1844, 
presumably for her distinguished character and for her courage in preserx'ing 
for the enjoyment of posterity the famous Gilbert Stuart painting of Washing- 
ton, which hung upon the walls of the White House when the city was burned 
by the British in 1814. It is not remembered, however, that either Mrs. Madi- 
son or Mrs, Thompson ever availed herself of the privilege thus conferred. 

Statue of Jefrerson. — In the niche at the foot of the stairway stands a 
marble statue of Thomas Jefferson, for which the government paid $10,000. 
This sum was a part of an appropriation made by the act of March 3, 1855, 
authorizing the President to contract with Hiram Powers for some work of art 
to adorn the Capitol. 

Proposed Bronze Doors. — In 1855, Thomas Crawford was engaged to 
furnish designs for doors, to be cast in bronze, for the eastern entrance to 
the House wing. These designs were executed in plaster in 1864 by William 
H. Rinehart for $8,940, and, for many years, have been stored beneath the 
crypt. No appropriation has been made for their casting. The panels repre- 
sent historical scenes during the davs of the building of the nation. 



2l6 



The National Capitol 



Serg-eant-at-Arms' and Committee Rooms. 

— The rooms of the Committees on Military Affairs, 
adorned with a series of paintings of the forts of the 
United States, and on Ways and Means, decorated in 
fresco, are on the main floor and front to the east. 
It is the duty of the latter committee to frame in 
the first instance all tariff legislation for the country. 
Each bill is customarily named, by courtesy, after the 
chairman of the committee at the time, as he is 
usually the leader of his party and necessarily rep- 
resents the measure upon the floor. In this room, 
the famous Mills, McKinley, Wilson and Dingley 
tariff bills were formulated before they were reported 
to the House for its action. 

In the southeast corner of the wing is the office 
of the Sergeant-at-Arms, one of whose agreeable 
duties it is to compel the attendance of absent Mem- 
bers upon a " call " of the House. As its disbursing 
officer, he pays the salaries, mileage and funeral 
expenses of its Members, disbursing yearly from 
^2,250,000 to ^2, 500, 000. 

. Great Mace. — Among the official duties of the 
9prgeant-at-Arms rests also the care of the Great 
Mace. This time-honored emblem of authority is 
composed of thirteen ebony sticks, silver-bound and 
surmounted by a silver globe, delicately engraved 
with the map of the world, upon the top of which rests a silver eagle with 
wings outstretched. A few minutes before the assembling of the House, it is 
the duty of an assistant Sergeant-at-Arms to carry the mace to the floor and 
rest it on the platform, prepared for that purpose, against the wall beside the 
Speaker. When the Chaplain finishes the benediction, the Speaker declares 
the House in session, and the mace is raised and placed upon its immovable 
pedestal of malachite, where it remains until the House adjourns. The 
assistant Sergeant-at-Arms then formally bears it back and replaces it in the 
custody of his superior. 

The House is not always an orderly body. This was especially so in war 
times. Indeed, as late as August 27, 1890, Mr. Enloe appropriately asked 
the Speaker if it would not " be in order to substitute the Marquis of Queens- 
berry rules for the rules of the House and proceed to do business"? The 
question of enforcing order is a vital one, and two Members are reported 
as once saying defiantly: "Let them try it." Whenever during sessions 
the House becomes too turbulent for the Speaker to control, he directs the 




The National Capitol 217 

Sergeant-at-Arms to take the mace from its pedestal and carry it among the 
Members. It has been upon the rarest occasions only that this authority has 
not been immediately respected. 

Taulbce-Kinoaid Affair. — On Febmary 28, 1890, shortly before two 
P.M., the stairs leading from the eastern corridor of the House to the base- 
ment were the scene of a tragedy. Ex- Representative William Preston Taul- 
bee of Kentucky was shot by Charles E. Kincaid, correspondent of the 
Louisville Times, as he was descending the lower flight. The primary cause 
of the trouble was generally accredited to an account of a scandal, published 
about a year before in Judge Kincaid's paper, in which were insinuations of 
Taulbee's implication. He certainly believed Kincaid wrote the article. Two 
hours before the shooting, an altercation had occurred between the gentlemen 
near the east entrance to the House floor. The wounded man did not fall, 
but staggered down the steps. He was taken to the room of the Committee on 
Public Buildings and Grounds, where he was soon surrounded by most of the 
Kentucky delegation. Kincaid was removed to the guard room of the Capi- 
tol. Taulbee died at five o'clock on the morning of March 11, 1890. The 
autopsy showed the ball lodged at the base of the brain. On April 8, 1891, 
a jury in the Criminal Court of the District of Columbia found Kincaid 
" Not guilty." 



STATUARY HALL 



The central or northern doors lead- 
ing to the floor of the House of Repre- 
sentatives form the southern terminus 
of the main corridor of the Capitol. 
Through this long interior vista, incase 
all doors are openetl and obstructions 
removed, the Vice-President of the 
I'nited States and the Speaker of the 
House can see, but not recognize, each 
other, while presiding over their respec- 
tive legislative bodies at the two ends 
of the Capitol. 

Old Hall of Representatives. — 
This corridor passes through Statuary- 
Hall, which, as the original Hall of 
Representatives, was occupied by the 
House from 1S07 to 1S14, when the 
British burned the Capitol, and again, 
after the restoration by Latrobe, until 
the 1 6th of September, 1S57, when that 
body formally took possession of its 
present chamber. Since that time, the 
hall has not been altered, save to re- 
move the furniture and draperies and to tile the floor. I'his was once nearly 
four feet lower than it is to-day, and in its elevation relative to that of the 
Senate, no doubt, took rise the otherwise inappropriate title of the '' Lower 
House." 

In the old days, even after the restoration, there were few decorations in 
the Capitol. The walls for the most part were plain, and whitewashed every 
year. No extensive lobbies, as now, existed for the accommodation of the 
Members. When there was a " call " of the House, a vote or a motion for 
adjournment. Representatives were notified by two large bells, one in each of 
the corridors down staii-s near the committee rooms, which were rung bv the 
doorkeepers in such a manner as to distinguish their meaning. These sounded 
like great fire-bells through the Capitol. 




The National Capitol 219 

l,il)r;ui;in \\ alkTston, writing; in \H.\2 ol lliis ( haiuhcr, says the cajiitals 
of the i)ilhirs support a " ilonu' with painted caissons, to represent that of the 
Pantheon at Rome. I'loni the < enlie of this dome is erecteil, to admit the 
light Iroin al)o\e, a handsome cupohi, richly i)ainted and ornamented hy a 
young Italian artist named Honani, who also painted the ceiling, and who died 
in this city soon after it was completed. 'I"he colossal figure of Liberty (in 
plaster) is hyCausici. ( )n the ciitalilaluic hciicath is si ulpturcd in stone the 
American eagle in the art of taking wing, executed by another Italian artist 
(Valaperti) of high reputation, who has left but this single specimen of his 
talents in this country, ami who disappeared suddenly and mysteriously soon 
after it was executed, i'.ciwccii < ohuuns, at their base, are placed sofas for 
the accommodation of tlic members and those who are privileged to enter the 
Hall ; and within the bar, in a semicircle fronting the Speaker's chair, are 
seated the members of the Mouse, each of whom is furnished with a mahog- 
any desk, an armed chair, and writing materials. The entran es to the galler- 
ies are at the south end of the wing; and at the ])oint on each side of the 
Hall, wluie the staircases dixerge, is stationed a doorkeeper, to prevent the 
|)ersons from passing into the ladies' gallery, who are excluded by the rule, 
and to ilirett others who are not the way in to it, and also to the gentlemen's 
gallery opi)osite. There is also a passage to those galleries from the interior 
of the Hall, which leads through two lobbies. On the left of the eastern 
lobby are the Sjjcaker's room and that of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and above the 
latter an ajjartmenl for bound tlocuments and state papers, called the Library 
of the House. At the same elevation in the western lobby are two commo- 
dious apartments, which are used as the depositories of Executive and Con- 
gressional documents not bound, and for immediate use. Delow one of these 
and on the floor of the lobby formed by an angle of the building, is the Post 
Office of the 1 louse." 

Lafayette's jiicture, presented to Congress during his last visit to America, 
then hung on the ^vest side of the loggia; Vanderlyn's Washington in a panel 
on the opposite side. Dickens, who visited Congress nearly every day during 
his stay in Washington in the same year, describes this chamber as " a beau- 
tiful and spacious hall of semicircular shape, supported by handsome pil- 
lars. One ])art of the gallery is appropriated to the ladies, and there they 
sit in front rows, and come in, and go out, as at a play or concert. The chair 
is canopied, and raised considerably above the floor of the House; and ever}' 
member has an easy-chair and a writing-desk to himself ; which is denounced 
by some people out-of-doors as a most unfortunate and injudicious arrange- 
ment, tending to long sittings and prosaic speeches. It is an elegant chamber 
to look at, but a singularly bad one for all purposes of hearing. Both Houses 
are handsomely carpeted ; but the state to which these carpets are reduced by 
the universal tlisregard of the sj)ittoon with which every honorable member is 



220 The National Capitol 

acGommodated, and the extraordinary improvements on the pattern which 
are squirted and dabbled upon it in every direction, do not admit of being 
described. It is strange enough too, to see an honorable gentleman leaning 
back in his tilted chair with his legs on the desk before him, shaping a con- 
venient ' plug ' with his pen knife, and when it is quite ready for use, shoot- 
ing the old one with his mouth as from a pop-gun, and clapping the new one 
in its place. I was surprised to observe that even steady old chewers of great 
experience are not always good marksmen." 

Notal)le Events. — Madison was twice inaugurated in this old Hall of 
Representatives, before the restoration, on March 4, 1809 and 181 3 ; Monroe 
once, after the restoration, on March 5, 182 1, the 4th having fallen on Sun- 
day. Chief Justice Marshall administered the oath on each occasion. Jeffer- 
son's proclamation of 1808 required the Senate to convene in extra session 
in the Senate Chamber. When the time came, however, they assembled in 
the Hall of Representatives, and there the new Senators took the oath of 
office. After the ceremony of the inauguration was completed, the President 
retired, and the Senators repaired to their own chamber. At the two other 
inaugurations, there being no necessity to confirm new Cabinets, no proclama- 
tions were issued convening the Senate. In 1813, Madison was escorted to the 
Capitol by the District cavalry, where he was received by several volunteer 
corps of Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria, drawn up in line. He 
delivered his speech in the presence of many Members of Congress, the 
justices of the Supreme Court, the foreign Ministers and a large gathering 
of ladies and gentlemen. Monroe had a less propitious day in 1821; for 
snow and rain had fallen during the preceding night; yet the ceremony was 
perhaps even more imposing within doors. Immense crowds thronged the 
Capitol, and at least two thousand persons gained admission to the chamber 
itself. The President took his place on the platform in front of the Speaker's 
chair. He first took the oath of office, and then, with the Chief Justice 
still standing at his side, delivered his inaugural. About were grouped noted 
dignitaries of the government and members of the foreign legations, while 
many ladies occupied seats in the interior. The Marine Band played as the 
President entered and as he left the chamber. Vice-President Tompkins had 
already taken the oath, on entering his second term, at his private residence 
on Saturday, the 3d. Here, also, on July 10, 1850, the day following the 
death of President Taylor, the Heads of Departments and the Senate joined the 
House ; and at noon, William Cranch, Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of 
the United States for the District of Columbia, administered the oath of office 
to Millard Fillmore. 

Election of President by House. — When the electoral votes were 
counted in the old Senate Chamber in 1825, it was found that John C. Cal- 
houn was duly elected Vice-President, but that none of the candidates for 




00 H 
"J 

> 5: 

< 5S 

z .« 



The National Capitol 223 

President had received a majority of the votes. According to the Constitu- 
tion, therefore, the House, after the Speaker had appointed a teller from each 
of the twenty-four States in the Union, proceeded to ballot by States for the 
three who had received the highest number, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy 
Adams and William H. Crawford. Upon the count it was found that Adams 
had received the votes of thirteen States, and the Speaker declared him elected 
President. At this announcement, there was some clapping of hands, but also 
hisses, and the galleries were cleared. The election caused much dissatisfac- 
tion among those who had voted for Jackson, as he had received the largest 
popular vote. Many attributed the result to an alliance between Adams and 
Clay, and John Randolph soon after in the Senate evidently referred to it 
when he said : " I was defeated, horse, foot, and dragoons— cut up, clean 
broke down by the coalition of Blifil and Black George— ^j the combination, 
unheard of till then, of the Puritan with the Black-leg!'' Randolph's repeated 
charges drew a challenge from Clay. The duel took place on the banks of 
the Potomac, but Randolph fired in the air and no one was hurt. 

Attempted Assassination of Jackson. — On the afternoon of January 
30, 1835, the funeral services of a Representative from South Carolina in 
this hall barely escaped forming the prelude to a great tragedy. President 
Jackson, accompanied by Mr. Woodbury and Mr. Dickerson, was near the 
head of the procession which was to escort the departed to the grave. The 
President had crossed the rotunda and was about to step upon the eastern por- 
tico when a man rushed forth from the crowd, and, leveling a pistol at the 
breast of the Executive, but eight feet away, pulled the trigger. The spec- 
tators were breathless. The cap exploded with a loud report, but the pistol 
was not discharged. Dropping it quickly to the floor, the would-be assassin 
attempted to fire a second weapon, with the same fortunate result. The Presi- 
dent, wild with rage and thoughtless of danger, rushed at his adversary with 
uplifted cane. Lieutenant Gedney of the navy, however, knocked the mad- 
man down before the President reached him. 

Harriet Martineau was a witness of this scene. " We went to the Capi- 
tol," she writes, " at about half an hour before noon, and found many ladies 
already seated in the galler}^ of the Hall of Representatives. I chanced to 
be at the precise point of the galler)^ where the sounds from every part of 
the House are concentrated ,; so that I heard the whole service, while I was at 
such a distance as to command a view of the entire scene. In the chair were 
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Representatives. Below 
them sat the officiating clergyman; immediately opposite to whom were the 
president and heads of departments on one side the coffin, and the judges of 
the Supreme Court and members of the Senate on the other. The representa- 
tives sat in rows behind, each with crape around the left arm ; some in black ; 
many in blue coats with bright buttons. Some of the fiercest political foes 



224 The National Capitol 

in the country ; some who never meet on any other occasion — the president 
and the South Carolina senators, for instance — now sat knee to knee, necessarily 
looking into each others' faces. With a coffin beside them, and such an event 
awaiting their exit, how out of place was hatred here ! 

" After prayers there was a sermon, in which warning of death was brought 
home to all, and particularly to the aged; and the vanity of all disturbances 
of human passion when in view of the grave was dwelt upon. There sat the 
gray-headed old president, at that time feeble, and looking scarcely able to 
go through this ceremonial, I saw him apparently listening to the discourse ; 
I saw him rise when it was over, and follow the coffin in his turn, somewhat 
feebly ; I saw him disappear in the doorway, and immediately descended 
with my party to the Rotundo, in order to behold the departure of the pro- 
cession for the grave. At the bottom of the stairs a member of Congress met 
us, pale and trembling, with the news that the president had been twice fired 
at with a pistol by an assassin who had waylaid him in the portico, but that 
both pistols had missed fire. At this moment the assassin rushed into the 
Rotundo where we were standing, pursued and instantly surrounded by a crowd. 
I saw his hands and half -bare arms struggling above the heads of the crowd 
in resistance to being handcuffed. He was presently overpowered, conveyed 
to a carriage, and taken before a magistrate. The attack threw the old soldier 
into a tremendous passion. He fears nothing, but his temper is not equal to 
his courage. Instead of his putting the event calmly aside, and proceeding 
with the business of the hour, it was found necessary to put him in his car- 
riage and take him home. 

" We feared what the consequences would be. We had little doubt that the 
assassin Lawrence was mad ; and as little that, before the day was out, we 
should hear the crime imputed to more than one political party or individual. 
And so it was. Before two hours were over, the name of almost every eminent 
politician was mixed up with that of the poor maniac who caused the uproar. 
The president's misconduct on the occasion was the most virulent and pro- 
tracted," 

Death of John Quincy Adams. — On February 13, 1847, during the dis- 
cussion of the " Three Million Dollar" bill, John Quincy Adams, who had 
been dangerously ill, appeared for the first time in Congress during that ses- 
sion. As he passed into this old Hall of Representatives, the entire House 
arose from their seats out of respect ; all business was temporarily suspended ; 
and Andrew Johnson, afterwards President, turning to the chair said that in 
accordance with his intention when he selected his present seat he now 
renounced it in favor of the former President of the United States, The 
bronze tablet to-day upon the floor marks the spot where stood this desk, and 
where later that veteran of politics was prostrated. When the House moved 
into its present quarters, the mahogany desks in the old hall were sold, and, 



The National Capitol 225 

it is said, this desk of John Quincy Adams brought more than any of the rest. 
The commemorative tablet was laid at the instance of ex-Governor Long of 
Massachusetts when a Member of the Fiftieth Congress. 

The death of Adams is graphically told by Charles Jared Ingersoll, his 
fellow-Member: "On the 21st of February, 1848, he underwent his death- 
stroke in attempting to give utterance to an emotion. The House of Repre- 
sentatives were voting thanks to several of the generals in the Mexican War, 
to which he was opposed, not only because of his disapproval of the war and 
the administration charged with it, but because, as he objected, some of the 
generals were under charges to be tried for misconduct. Uttering his nay to 
the Clerk's call for votes, with the petulant vehemence he often effected, as if 
not merely to negative but stigmatize the proposition, and soon afterwards 
trying, as is believed, to rise and say something, he sunk forward in his seat 
senseless, in a fit of mortal paralysis. A crowd of members rushed to his 
help, and keeping my place at some distance, I did not see him till lifted 
up and borne off by Dr. George Fries, one of the Ohio members, who, 
attended by many others, carried him through the middle aisle out of the 
House, by the centre door into the rotunda, where Dr. Fries in his lap sup- 
ported Mr. Adams, till a sofa was brought, on which he was laid and taken 
into the Speaker's room. Almost inanimate, he is said to have uttered a few 
words, ' This is the last of earth,' as his valedictory to the world, from which 
he had prepared for conspicuous departure. His family, friends, and several 
ministers of the Gospel soon came and prayed for him, not, however, with- 
out misunderstanding as to which clergyman was best entitled, and further 
heart burning afterwards concerning their invitations to the funeral, as pas- 
sionately preached by one of the disappointed from the pulpit the following 
Sunday. 

'■' Mr. Adams longed to die in the Capitol, and surpassed Chatham's 
death, which he emulated. If Adams could have expired when, as well as 
where, he wished, it would have been next day after his attack, the 2 2d 
February, Washington's birth-day, instead of living until the evening of the 
23d. 

" Hated and vilified as he had been in the Capitol, his death was instantly 
followed there by a gush of unanimous veneration for his memory, and un- 
bounded respect for his mortal remains. 

" Adjourning at once on his apparent, the House of Representatives 
adjourned again the next two days, awaiting his actual demise, and then the 
rest of the week for his obsequies. 

"The Hall and his chair were draped in mourning on the day of his 
funeral, and many of the houses of Washington in like manner." 

They first bore the couch of the dying statesman to the east door of the 
rotunda, where are now the bronze portals, hoping that the fresh air might 
15 



2 26 The National Capitol 

revive him. This view across what might be appropriately called the Presi- 
dent's portico was the last fading impression of the world outside the Capitol 
reflected by the shattered mind. The atmosphere, alas, was chilly and heavy 
with vapor; and at the suggestion of Mr. Winthrop, the couch was taken to 
the Speaker's room. Mrs. Adams and the nephew and niece of the afflicted 
arrived post haste but they could do little else than watch the image fade 
before their tear-stained eyes. 

The funeral ceremonies were held in the Hall of Representatives on the 
26th. The Capitol was filled to overflowing. The old hall was shrouded in 
black with " great taste and judgment by the officers of the House, under the 
suggestion, and kind supervision of a distinguished lady." The fair figure of 
History was robed in black, save the arm " holding the recording pen," says 
the Intelligencer, "whose alabaster whiteness, in strong contrast with the sur- 
rounding stole, had a fine effect ; heightened as it was by the attitude of the 
head, which, turning towards one side, happened to have its countenance in 
the very direction where stood the vacant seat of Mr. Adams, as if in the act of 
recording the solemn circumstances of his death. That seat by order of the 
house was draped in mourning, and by the fact of its vacancy recalled every 
beholder to the blow which had there fallen, like a thunderbolt from a cloud- 
less sky. The portraits of Washington and Lafayette, on either hand of the 
chair, were covered over with thin crape, casting a melancholy dimness over 
the features, without entirely concealing them, the frames being covered with 
a deeper black. The effect of this, too, was very fine, most truly representing 
what would have been the feeling of both those distinguished men if alive to 
witness the solemn scene ; for Washington gave the deceased his first Com- 
mission, and Lafayette embraced him in his arms when taking his last adieu 
of America." 

Seats before the desk were reserved for judges, the Cabinet, the diplomatic 
corps and the committee of arrangements, which consisted of one Represen- 
tative from each State in the Union. In the center stood a table, covered 
with a black velvet pall, to support the casket. Behind the foreign repre- 
sentatives were the seats for officers of the army and navy. Clergymen also 
were accorded places upon the floor, some coming from Alexandria, Balti- 
more and even Massachusetts to attend the ceremony. Seats for the family 
were reserved upon the extreme left. Some of the diplomats appeared in full 
court dress, with orders and decorations, while others came in simple suits of 
black. The Speaker, President of the Senate, officers of both Houses, mem- 
bers of the committee of arrangements and attendant physicians wore white 
scarfs. The galleries and lobbies were packed to suffocation. Following the 
reading of the journal, the Senate entered, preceded by its venerable presid- 
ing officer, George Mifilin Dallas, with white and flowing hair. He sat upon 
the Speaker's left. Everyone arose as James K. Polk, the President of the 



The National Capitol ' 227 

United States, entered the hall. The casket was escorted by the committee 
of arrangements and followed by the Massachusetts delegation as mourners. 
Chaplain Gurley read from Scripture and offered prayer. The choir then sang 
a hymn. The address followed, after which came the closing hymn and 
apostolic benediction. 

As soon as the ceremonies were completed, the procession formed. The 
casket was borne to the rotunda, out the eastern portal, and down the steps, 
where carriages were in waiting. The funeral car was canopied in black 
velvet and surmounted by an eagle with wings outstretched, covered with 
crape. It was drawn by six white horses, led by as many grooms — both horses 
and grooms attired in sable. The casket was covered with black velvet, orna- 
mented with silver lace. Upon its plate was the following inscription : 

John Quincy Adams, 

Born 

An Inhabitant of Massachusetts, July ii, 1767, 

Died 

A Citizen of the United States, 

In the Capitol of Washington, 

February 23, 1848J 

Having served his Country for Half a Century, 

And 

Enjoyed its Highest Honors. 

Acoustics. — The difficulty of speaking and hearing in this hall was much 
complained of by the Members from the first time they occupied it, in 1807. 
The present flooring is tessellated in black and white marble. Some of these 
squares have accidentally fallen into key with the peculiar form of the ceil- 
ing, arch and dome, and now definitely mark the marvelous acoustic proper- 
ties of the hall, in the way of whispering galleries, curious echoes and ven- 
triloquist effects. These strange echoes have constantly baffled the most 
skilful efforts of various architects. Their history forms an interesting chap- 
ter, not only architecturally but popularly. It is especially amusing to observe 
how learnedly Latrobe comments upon them, and how readily he points out 
for the edification of Congress all the difficulties and their remedies ; for, 
when it fell to his lot to rebuild the old south wing after the fire, though 
untrammelled in the supervision, his theories * did not solve the difficulty. 
Thornton always maintained that the chamber would have given no trouble 
had Latrobe but followed his original design. The curious echoes still cling 
to the old hall and reverberate strangely in the ears, like admonitions from 
the spirits of departed statesmen whose voices once rang out within its walls. 

* For reports, see Appendix, pp. 261-273. 



228 The National Capitol 

There is certainly something ghostly about it, with its circular assembly of 
mute representatives in bronze and marble and its wonderful whispering walls. 

The acoustic properties of the room are truly unaccountable, as it was mod- 
eled after buildings successfully used for theaters and auditoriums in Greece 
and Rome, and is quite similar in design to the French Chamber of Deputies 
in Paris. Some of the difficulty was obviated, however, by a simple sugges- 
tion * of Robert Mills, an architect, who, in 1832, showed the fallacy in the 
arrangement of the seats by which Representatives were compelled to speak 
toward the flat wall at the south end of the room, where the Speaker had 
his desk, near the center of the prostyle. The seats were accordingly reversed 
with slightly beneficial results, the presiding officer occupying the north end 
of the room and the Members speaking toward the semi-circular wall. 

Fraiizoni Clock. — The clock above the door which leads to the rotunda 
was carved from a solid piece of marble by Franzoni, and commands admira- 
tion for its beauty. Clio, the Muse who presides over History, standing in a 
winged chariot, records the passing events of the nation upon tablets. The 
wheels indicate the flight of time as the car rolls over a globe, which is 
encircled by a belt whereon are chiseled the signs of the zodiac. This 
artistic bit was carved in the Capitol at a per diem compensation. Its cost 
is unknown. Behind the clock runs a semi-circular gallery, once occupied 
by wealth and fashion, but now the depository of hundreds of dusty, rarely- 
read volumes. 

Statuary. — This old Hall of Representatives was set apart as a National 
Hall of Statuary by a provision of the sundry civil bill of July 2, 1864, pur- 
suant to a resolution offered by Mr. Morrill of Vermont. The President, 
at the same time, was given authority to invite each State to contribute for its 
adornment two statues in bronze or marble, of deceased citizens of the State, 
whom, "for their historic renown or from civic or military services," she 
should consider worthy of such national commemoration. At present, only 
thirteen States have responded to this call. 

In the southeast corner stand the contributions of the State of Connecti- 
cut, Roger Sherman and Jonathan Trumbull, by the same sculptor, C. B. 
Ives. Trumbull was Governor of the Colony and first Governor of the State. 
Washington, who "relied on him as one of his main pillars of support," 
called him " Brother Jonathan," and from this has come the nickname of the 
United States. The next in the circle, John P. Muhlenberg-, by Blanche 
Nevin, is from Pennsylvania. On the Sunday following the news of the 
battle of Lexington, he preached a sermon which will live in the memory of 
man as long as history is read. The congregation was startled by its dramatic 
climax, excusable because of its sincere patriotism. Throwing off the robes 

* For report, see Appendix, p. 268. 



The National Capitol 



229 



of the minister, he stepped forth in the uniform of the soUlicr, uttering the 
words : " There is a time for all things — a time to preach and a time to fight 
— and now is the time to fight." He then organized a company of troops 
from among his congregation, joined Washington's army, became a general, 
and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwall is at Yorktown. 

From A'ermont comes a statue, by Larkin C. Mead, of Ethan Allen, the 




hero of Ticonderoga, who demanded its surrender "in the name of the great 
Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Michigan sends one statue, of 
Lewis Cass, the work of the eminent sculptor, Daniel C. French, whose 
"Minute Man" at Concord, Massachusetts, is universally admired. The 
artist had an admirable subject for a statue in this sturdy son of Michigan. 
The rugged lines of his face, which reveal his strength of character and Spar- 
tan raising, lend themselves to the chisel's nicest art. In looking at the 
statue, one feels the force and reality of the man who, when Hull ignomini- 
ously surrendered at Detroit, then a young colonel, broke his sword across 
his knee, exclaiming : " The British never shall have it ! " 

From the State of Ohio comes James Abvani Garfield and Governor 
William Allen, both by Niehaus. Jaeob Collamer, Senator from Vermont, 
is the work of Preston Powers. Robert Fulton, by Howard Roberts, is the 
gift of Pennsylvania. His Clermont, the first successful steamboat, left 
New York for Albany August 7, 1807. This picturesque statue attracts uni- 
versal attention, but deser\'es little recognition from critics, otherwise than 
for its graceful and idea-possessing pose. The face is characterless. The 
statues which follow, of General Nathaniel Greene of Revolutionary fame, 
the corner-stone of whose monument in Savannah, Georgia, was laid by Lafay- 



230 



The National Capitol 



/ 



^ 



ette in 1825, and of Roger Williams, the founder 
of the Colony, are from Rhode Island. They were 
sculptured respectively by H. K. Brown and Frank- 
lin Simmons. A bust of Abraliam Lincoln by 
Sarah Fisher Ames, which was purchased by the 
government for ^2,000, occupies the next pedestal. 
Then comes a bust of Thomas Crawford, the 
sculptor, by T. Gagliardi. The Empire State is 
represented by the following figure in bronze, of 
Georg-e Clinton, her first Governor, also by H, 
K. Brown. The same artist appears again as the 
sculptor of the statue of Ricliarcl Stockton, one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
the gift of the State of New Jersey. Illinois 
contributes a bronze statue of General James 
Shields, her Senator and warrior, by Leonard W. 
Volk ; and the second statue from New Jersey, of 
Philip Kearney, a Major-General in the Civil 
war who was killed at Chantilly, is still another 
work of H. K. Brown. 

Next in the circle is an exquisite statue of 
Father James Marquette, by the Italian sculp- 
tor, G. Trentenove, the first contribution to the 
___^^^ Hall of Statuary from the State of Wisconsin. 
jB^~ " "^ '^"-'''*^ '''^"3 This is the statue which has awakened such antag- 
1^^ 0^m onism, because the sculptor represented the pioneer 

of Wisconsin in his habitual robes of a Jesuit priest. 
The opposition, instigated by members of the organization known as the 
"A. P. A.," has fortunately died out, however, after elaborate discussion in 
the press and on the floor of Congress ; and the statue, having been duly ac- 
cepted by the Senate, remains as one of the choicest art- treasures within the 
walls of the Capitol. A statue of Abraham Lincoln, by Vinnie Ream, 
stands next in line. It was bought by the government to commemorate him 
whose "loving life, like a bow of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of 
war." Then follows Alexander Hamilton by Horatio Stone, bought by 
the government for $10,000. John AVinthrop, by Richard S. Greenough, 
represents the Old Commonwealth. He was the first Governor of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony. 

By the door leading to the rotunda stand marbles of John Stark and 
Daniel 'Webster as mute exponents of the saying that New Hampshire is 
good only " to build school-houses and raise men." Stark was the hero of 
Bennington ; as he came in view of the British, he said to his New Hamp- 



Antj 1ARC.1 £lTt S ' 




The National Capitol 



231 



shire militia : "See, men: there are the red-coats; we must beat to-day, or 
Molly Stark's a widow." 

These statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in bronze now 
in the State House park at Concord, New Hampshire. The original also of 
Stark is by Conrads, and was erected by the State. The original of the Web- 
ster statue is by Ball, and was presented to New Hampshire by Benjamin 
Pierce Cheney. 

On the occasion of the acceptance of these statues by Congress, Mr. (ial- 
linger exclaimed of General Stark: "Amid the gloom and despondency of 
the darkest days of that heroic struggle his vision discerned a victorious 
ending. Eighty-four years of age when the second war with Great Britain 
commenced, he longed for the energy of youth that he might engage in the 
strife, and chafed under the burdens that kept him from again serving his 
country." 

Mr. Chandler, representing the State of Webster's birth, proudly said: 
" In centuries to come, if the statues in the gallery escape the levelling hand 
of time, and future generations look upon the likeness of Webster and ask 




232 The National Capitol 

who he was and what he did, there shall come the undying eulogium : He was 
the great expounder and defender of the American Constitution." 

Mr. Hoar of Massachusetts honored his State's adopted son and Senator, 
whose greatest life-work had been performed in the Capitol, in words of 
eloquence and kindly judgment : "It would have been fortunate," he said, 
" for Mr. Webster's happiness and for his fame if he had died before 1850. 
But what would have been his fame and what would have been his happiness 
if his life could have been spared till 1865 ! He would have seen his great 
arguments in the reply to Haine, in the debates with Calhoun, inspiring, 
guiding, commanding, strengthening. The judge in the court is citing them. 
The orator in the Senate is repeating them. The soldier by the camp fire is 
meditating them. The Union cannon is shotted with them. They are flashing 
from the muzzle of the rifle. They are gleaming in the stroke of the saber. 
They are heard in the roar of the artillery. They shine on the advancing 
banner. They mingle with the shout of victory. They conquer in the sur- 
render of Appomattox. They abide forever and forever in the returning reason 
of an estranged section and the returning loyalty of a united people ! Oh, 
if he could but have lived ! If he could but have lived, how the hearts of 
his countrymen would have come back to him ! In all the attributes of a 
mighty and splendid manhood he never had a superior on earth. Master of 
English speech, master of the loftiest emotions that stirred the hearts of his 
countrymen, comprehending better than any other man save Marshall the 
principles of her Constitution, he is the one foremost figure in our history 
between the day when Washington died and the day when Lincoln took the 
oath of office." 

The statue of Samuel Adams, by Anne Whitney, next in line, is the gift 
of Massachusetts. On its base are words addressed by him, as the spokesman 
of the committee, to Governor Hutchinson on March 6, 1770, the day after the 
Boston Massacre, in demanding the withdrawal of the British troops : " Night 
is approaching. An immediate answer is expected. Both regiments or 
none." William King-, by Franklin Simmons, comes as the first Governor 
of the State of Maine. The statue is interesting for the debate provoked in 
the Senate, January 22, 1878, when Mr. Hannibal Hamlin introduced the reso- 
lution for its acceptance by the government. Mr. Blaine practically im- 
puted to the Massachusetts Senators, Hoar and Dawes, an ignorance of the 
history of their own State. A skirmish naturally ensued, which opened old 
wounds relative to the war of 181 2, the creation of the State of Maine out of 
Massachusetts territory, and the sacrifices forced upon the northern State 
under the Ashburton Treaty, negotiated by a former Massachusetts Senator 
when Secretary of State, Daniel Webster. 

The plaster statue of George TVashing-toii, which occupies the next 
place in the circle and which, perhaps, found its way into the possession of 



The National Capitol 233 

the government through Thomas Jefferson, is probably one of the models 
which the sculptor, Jean Antoine Houdon, made for the marble statue now 
in the rotunda of the State House at Richmond, \irginia. This theory of 
its origin is suggested by the following letter from Jefferson to Mr. Parker, 
written in the Senate Chamber January 13, 1800 : " I have the honor to inform 
you that the marble statue of (General Washington in the Capitol at Richmond, 
with its pedestal, cost in Paris 24,000 livres or 1,000 I^uis d'ors. Besides 
this we paid floudon's coming to and returning from Virginia to take the 
General's likeness, which as well as I recollect were about 500 guineas, and 
the transportation of the statue to Virginia with a workman to put it up, 
the amount of which I never heard. I believe that in Rome or Florence, 
the same thing may be had from the best artists for about two thirds of the 
above prices, executed in the marble of Carrara, the best now known. But 
unless Ciracchi's busts of General Washington are, any of them, there, it 
would be necessary to send there one of Houdon's figures in plaster, which, 
packed for safe transportation, would cost 20 or 30 guineas." 

The Richmond statue was sculptured in pursuance of a resolution of the 
Legislature of Virginia, of January 22, 1784, which authorized the Executive 
" to take measures for procuring a statue of General Washington, to be of the 
finest marble and the best workmanship, with the following inscription* on 
its pedestal : 

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia 

have caused this Statue to be erected 

as a Monument of Affection and Gratitude to 

GEORGE WASHINGTON ; 

Who, 

uniting to the Endowments of the Hero the Virtues of the Patriot, 

and exerting both in establishing the Liberties of his Country, 

has rendered his Name dear to his Fellow Citizens, 

and given the World an Immortal Example 

of true Glory." 

Governor Harrison accordingly wrote to Jefferson and Franklin, then in 
Paris; and they selected Houdon as "the first statuary in PLurope." The 
artist seems to have considered the work " as promising the brightest chapter 
of his history." His eagerness to undertake the task was, no doubt, prompted 
partly by the hope of being employed to design also the equestrian statue, 
authorized by Congress on August 7, 1783, for which he made a model, exhib- 
ited in the Salon of 1793. He reached Washington's home upon the Potomac 
late on Sunday night, October 2, 1785, where he remained a fortnight enjoy- 

* This tribute is said to have been penned at the time by James Madison, upon his 
knee. 



234 



The National Capitol 



ing the intiniacv of the family. Eveiy opportunit\- was afforded him by close 
companionship for the study of his subject's physiognomy and temperament, 
and he was piermitted not only to take accurate measurements of ^^"ashington's 
frame, but to make a mold of the face, head and chest. "George Washing- 
ton, in the prime of life," writes George W. P. Custis, "stood six feet two 
inches, and measured precisely six feet when attired for the graAe."' This 
statue is taller. 

^\"ashington himself suggested the costume. It is the Continental uniform 
which he was accustomed to wear as Commander-in-chief, and in which he 
resigned his commission at Annapolis, ^fany think the statue overcrowded 
with symbolism, and that the sword, cane, ploughshare and fasces detract 
from its dignity. This would undoubtedly be true, if it were not for the 
easy and natural pose which the artist has given to the figure, ^^'ashington was 
fifty-four years of age when Houdon visited Mount Vernon : and the fact that 

no other statue was ever made from 
his person renders this work particu- 
larly interesting and valuable. How 
well it satisfied his contemporaries, 
niav be gathered from an expression 
of Marshall to Jared Sparks, that, 
''to a person standing on the right 
hand of the statue, and taking a half 
front view, ' it rep) resented the origi- 
nal as perfectly as a living man could 
be represented in marble.' '" 

The bronze statue of Thomas 
Jettevsou, by P. T. David d'Angers, 
which is the next in line, was pre- 
sented by Lieutenant Uriah P. Levy 
of the navy, in 1834, and is rightfully 
considered one of the most artistic 
statues in the hall. Beside it stands 
a colorless repiresentation in marble 
of Kdward r>iokinsoii Bakei*, the 
Senator-soldier from Oregon, another 
example of the art of Horatio Stone. 
The bronze statue of Kol»ovt R. 
I.ivinji'st*^i»« who, as first chancellor 
of his State, administered the oath 
of office to the first President of the 
I'nited States, is the gift of New 
York. Its sculptor, E. D. Palmer, 




The National Cai^irol 235 

deserves credit for an exciuisitc jjiece of work — one of the best in the 
Capitol. 

Tiiis cireular assenil)lage of statues, at present, is coniiilcted hv Inists of 
Polisii heroes of the Revolution. 'J'he first is hy li. D.Saunders (1857,^500) 
of Tadeusz Koseiiiszko, who inspired in Camjjbell the words: 

" Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell, 
And Freedom shriek'd — as Kosciuszko fell." 

'The other is of Kaziniiorz Puiawski, who was killed at the siege of Savan- 
nah, and is by H. Dmochowski (1857 Phi.). Statues of Blair and Benton, to 
be presented by Missouri, and of Kenna, by West Virginia, are now being 
sculptured. 

On the east wall, within the columns, overlooking the small lobby now 
reserved for ladies, is a imrtrait of Joshua K. Oiddin^s (1865), for which 
the government paid the artist, Miss C. L. Ranson, Si, 000. 

('oliiiiiiis. — The Corinthian columns which surround the chamber are of 
breccia or Potomac marble from quarries in I.oudon County, Virginia, and 
Montgomery County, Maryland. The polishing of their surfaces has produced 
designs and pictures almost as weird and curious as the echoes. Some of the 
outlines formed by cutting the imbedded pebbles are such perfect caricatures 
that the imagination is not required to distinguish them. On the column to 
the right of the door which leads to the ofifice of the Clerk of the House, about 
seven feet from the ground, is found a perfect head of a deer ; and on the 
column behind the statue of Ethan Allen, about four feet from the ground, an 
almost i^erfect head of a Turk. An Episcopal clergyman in his clerical robes 
is easily distinguishable on the column behind the statue of Garfield. Behind 
Collamer is a form suggestive of ex-Senator Edmunds; and behind the statue 
of William Allen, about four feet high, the characteristic face of Benjamin 
F. Butler of Massachusetts appears. Upon the column to the left of the 
entrance to the document rooms is a face which strikingly resembles Joseph 
Pulitzer, the great journalist. 

Ohl House Post-Ofliee. — In a corner of the business-like document 
rooms, opening off, where are now kept bills, resolutions, reports and other 
printed documents for the use of Members, was located in the old days the 
post-office of the House. Here, writes Ben: Perley Poore, "during the 
Christmas holidays, Mr. Lincoln found his way . . . where a few jovial 
raconteurs used to meet almost every morning, after the mail had been dis- 
tributed into the Members' boxes, to exchange such new stories as any of them 
might have acfjuired since they had last met. After modestly standing at the 
door for several days, Mr. Lincoln was reminded of a story, and by New 
Year's, he was recognized as the champion story-teller of the Capitol. His 



236 The National Capitol 

favorite seat was at the left of the open fire-place, tilted back in his chair, 
with his long legs reaching over to the chimney jamb. He never told a story 
twice, but appeared to have an endless repertoire of them always ready, like 
the successive charges in a magazine gun, and always pertinently adapted to 
some passing event. It was refreshing to us correspondents, compelled as we 
were to listen to so much that was prosy and tedious, to hear this bright speci- 
men of Western genius tell his inimitable stories, especially his reminis- 
cences of the Black Hawk War." 

This extract, culled from the Reminiscences of the veteran-correspondent, 
throws a halo and aroma about the room, and gives to what remains of its fire- 
place, now hidden by prosaic desk and documents, almost as much interest as 
clings to the one in the Red Horse Inn at Stratford-on-Avon, made historic 
on the night when Washington Irving sat there alone poking the fire and 
dreaming his magic dream. The old chair in which he sat is looked upon 
with as much reverence as a royal throne, and his poker has come to be the 
famous scepter of Geoffrey Crayon. These are almost religiously preserved in 
Shakespere's hamlet on the banks of the Avon; and to the eyes of Ameri- 
cans, who go thousands of miles to see them, they are sacred. But where, 
alas, is the chair Lincoln tipped against the wall of this old post-office, while 
the room resounded to the applause evoked by that genius of story-telling ? 
And where is the poker with which " Old Abe " tickled the laughing embers 
until they cracked their sides with merriment ? The echoes of his voice have 
joined the mysterious voices in Statuary Hall, but where are his democratic 
throne and scepter once in the old House post-office ? 

Clerk's Room. — The narrow hallway to the northeast of Statuary Hall, 
which is still of the level of the old Hall of Representatives, leads directly 
to the private room of the Clerk of the House. On its west wall is a bracket 
holding a bust of Joliu Quiucy Adams, commemorative of his death in 
this former Speaker's room. The plain -inscription is said to have been writ- 
ten by Mr. Sumner: "John Quincy Adams, who, after fifty years of public 
service, the last sixteen in yonder Hall, was summoned thence to die in this 
room, 23 February, 1848." 

This marble bust was secured by voluntary subscriptions of ^600, made in 
the House by gentlemen of all parties. On March 3, 1849, about a year after 
the tragic death-stroke, Mr. Ashmun arose in the chamber and notified the 
House of the arrival of the bust and that it was then on exhibition in the Con- 
gressional Library, awaiting authority for its removal to the proposed resting 
place in the Speaker's room. The resolution which he proposed granted this 
permission and also authorized the Clerk to pay to the sculptor, John C. King 
of Boston, such sum, not exceeding $400, as in his judgment seemed proper. 
This was to meet a deficiency in the collection of the subscriptions, not unusual 
in such matters, and to reimburse the artist for his labor and expense in 



The National Capitol 237 

bringing the marble to Washington himself, which was outside the terms of 
his contract. The resolution brought an immediate objection from Mr. Jones 
of Tennessee; and the ensuing skirmish on points of order brought Mr. (Irin- 
nell to his feet, who besought his colleague, Mr. Ashmun, to modify it so as to 
strike out all that part which proposed an appropriation. He said feelingly 
that he never wanted to hear the name of Mr. Adams connected with money 
in that hall, and added that he would pay the expenses from his own pocket. 
Mr. Ashmun complied, though he thought it not " an honor to the House that 
the gentleman should be placed in such circumstances." Mr. Jones was 
pettily triumphant, though the resolution, minus its clause appropriating 
$400, was passed by a vote of 125 to 19. 

Latrobe Capitals.— The columns at the head of the stairway which was 
the main entrance to the old south wing are crowned with capitals of a unique 
character. These were designed by Latrobe supposedly from the leaves and 
flowers of the cotton plant, but are not so natural or happy in effect as his now 
historic designs from the maize. 

Statues. — The bareness of the rotunda was relieved in 1901 by the transfer 
from Statuary Hall of the statues of Baker, Jefferson, Lincoln and Hamilton and 
by the addition of one of General Grant. The last named is the work of Franklin 
Simmons {Fed^ 1899) and was presented by the Grand Army of the Republic. 
To the collection in Statuary Hall were added about the same time Thomas Benton 
and F. P. Blair of Missouri and John McKenna of West Virginia, ail by Doyle ; 
and O. P. Morton of Indiana, by Niehaus. Maryland has ordered statues of 
Hanson and of Calvert ; and Illinois is unique, in that one of her contributions 
to the colbction will be Mrs. F. P. ^^'illa.l•d. 



LATTER-DAY HAPPENINGS 

Garland's Death. — Few men have had the good fortune — if death can be 
called a good fortune at any time — to die in the Capitol. Ex-Attorney General 
Augustus H. Garland died in the presence, practically, of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, while arguing a case before the Chief Justice and Associate 
Justices Harlan, Gray, Brown, Shiras, Peckham and McKenna, on January 26, 1899. 
The records of the Court give the case as "No. 198. Blanche K. Townson 
et al., appellants, v. Christiana V. Moore et al. Argument concluded by Mr. A. 
H. Garland for appellants." In a pencil note, the Clerk has added, " Mr. Gar- 
land fell while making this argument, and died in the clerk's office." Attorney 
General Griggs formally notified the Court of the almost tragic demise. The 
Chief Justice responded in a sympathetic manner, and, as a mark of respect to 
the memory of this distinguished member of the bar and eminent public servant, 
the Court adjourned until the following day. 

Deivey at the Capitol. — Perhaps no ceremony connected with the history 
of the Capitol has been more splendid than that in honor of Admiral George 
Dewey, October 3, 1899, when Congress honored the hero of Manila with a 
sword, presented in the presence of ofiicial, military and civic Washington by 
President McKinley, upon a platform raised for the occasion on the east front of 
the building. It was a glorious day — all blue and gold. The Admiral had just 
returned to his native land, and his victories were deep in the hearts of the 
people. The President recognized that it was Dewey's day, and conceded the 
wild enthusiasm during the ride to the Capitol and the cheering of the populace 
gathered on the plaza to the great sea-captain. Upon their arrival, the President 
proceeded to the room in the Senate wing set apart for the Executive. The 
Admiral was received in the Vice-President's room. Thence, at the time 
appointed, the Commander-in-chief and the Admiral walked arm-in-arm to the 
east front, where their presence was greeted by a sea of faces and a deafening 
cheer from the multitude. The Admiral seemed reassured as his eye caught sight 
of his own " blue jackets " — " the men behind the guns " — for whom places had 
been set apart upon the steps of the Senate wing, and who made the campus ring 
with their cheers as their Admiral came into view. Neither the President, nor 
Sampson, nor 'Schley, nor Miles that day could take the lustre from the hero of 
Manila. As they came upon the stand, the President gracefully forced Dewey 
to the front, who acknowledged modestly the plaudits of his admiring country- 



The National Capitol 



'■39 



men. The President and the Achniral then sat side by side in the face of the 
multitude during the simple but impressive ceremonies which followed. 

Some of the spectators say that, as the Admiral took his seat, his curiosity 

was so great that he eagerly raised the lid of the case containing the sword 
to admire its beauty; but that the applause of those about him led him to drop 
the cover as quickly, with the look upon his face of a schoolboy who has been 
caught doing the forbidden. 

Secretary John D. Long delivered the address of presentation. Then, taking 




Mckinley s second inaugural 

the beautiful jewelled gift from its rich case, he handed it to the President, in 
order that the sword might pass first into the Admiral's hand from the hand of 
his Commander-in-chief. The President said to Dewey : " There was no flaw in 
your victory ; there will be no faltering in maintaining it." The Admiral ex- 
pressed his gratitude in a few well-chosen words. He was deeply affected by the 
scene. Cardinal Cibbons pronounced the benediction, after which, amid the wilil 
cheering of the spectators, the President and the Admiral reviewed the parade, 
led by General Miles. Carriages then took them back to the White House. 
McKinley's Second Inaug-ural. — The second inaugural of President 



240 The National Capitol 

McKinley, March 4, 1901, differed little from the first, except that there was 
no packing of trunks at the White House and that, in the carriage-seat by the 
President's side, usually occupied by the retiring President, sat the smiling Senator 
Marcus A. Hanna, with whom no one can dispute the honor of being the Warwick 
of America — the American King- Maker. Much picturesqueness was added to the 
ceremonies of the day by the personality of the Vice-President, since President 
Roosevelt, whose career as cowboy, hunter, soldier and statesman won cheers for 
him from the lovers of the strenuous along the way. 

The day was overhung with clouds, and during the inaugural the rain began 
to beat down in torrents ; but even this did not prevent thousands from listening 
to the voice of the popular President, as he reviewed, in the eloquent address, the 
needs and conditions of our new possessions and the prosperity of our land. 
Over the heads of the President and of Chief Justice Fuller, who administered 
again the oath of office, was erected a small but substantial canopy, which lent a 
slightly novel appearance to the scene. Mrs. McKinley attended the ceremonies, 
leaning on the arm of Adjutant-General Corbin. General Miles and Admiral 
Dewey, and the diplomatists, headed by Lord Paunceforte, contributed the usual 
lustre and gold lace to the picture. 

McKinley in State. — The remains of President McKinley were brought 
to Washington, September 16, 1901, from Buffalo, and taken directly to the 
White House. At nine o'clock on the morning of the 17th, the parade formed 
and escorted the body to the rotunda of the Capitol, where the funeral services 
were to be held. The choir of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, which McKinley 
had attended, opened the services by singing " Lead, Kindly Light." The 
Reverend Henry R. Naylor offered the invocation and Bishop Andrews delivered 
the funeral address. The choir then sang " Sometime We'll Understand." The 
benediction, which was spoken by Reverend W. H. Chapman, was followed ap- 
propriately by the hymn, "Nearer My God to Thee." The rotunda was then 
cleared ; and there the body lay in state until evening, open to the view of the 
" plain people," who by thousands reverently passed the casket. President 
Roosevelt and Ex-President Cleveland were the most distinguished of the auditors 
of these sad rites at the Capitol. 

Superintendent of the Capitol, — Edward Clarke, the veteran Architect 
of the Capitol, died January 6, 1902. For some time previous to his death, his 
health had been so impaired that the burden of his work had fallen upon his chief 
clerk, ElUott Woods, who had been associated with Clarke, except for a short 
time, since 1885, when Woods came to Washington from Indiana. The law 
which gave the chief clerk authority thus to act as Architect was approved July 
5, 1895, and was passed especially to provide for the exigency caused by the 
unfortunate condition of the Architect's health. This law provided also that, in 
case of a vacancy, the chief clerk should perform the duties of Architect until the 
vacancy had ^een filled according to law. 



The National Capitol 243 

At the time of the Architect's demise, a strenuous effort was made to oust the 
chief clerk from the authority so conferred upon him, on the ground principally 
that he was not an architect and the office of Architect of the Capitol was a tra- 
tlitional one. This argument was somewhat weakened, however, when it was 
remembered that the great central idea of the Capitol, which is the wonder of 
the world to-day, was the conception of Doctor Thornton, not an architect ; and 
that Doctor Thornton's masterpiece had succeeded against the plans of archi- 
tects and in spite of architects — and that largely through the good sense of Wash- 
ington. Then, too, during the long period from 1S2S to 185 1, when the marble 
wings were begun, there had been no Architect of the Capitol, and the building 
had been successfully managed by the Commissioner of Public Buildings and 
Grounds. Even the great original work of Architects Walter and Clarke had 
been largely directed to extending harmoniously the thought of Doctor Thornton. 

In the end, and in order, no doubt, to provide for the popular chief clerk, 
Congress passed a law, approved February 12, 1902, which provided that there- 
after the office of Architect of the Capitol should be designated as Superintendent 
of the Capitol Buildings and Grounds, and that he should be appointed by the 
President. This appointment is unique in that it does not have to be confirmed 
by the Senate. In accordance with this law, on February 20, 1902, President 
Roosevelt appointed Elliott Woods Superintendent. 

Under his direction, but mainly preceding Architect Clarke's death, new steel 
roois— fa csimi/es of the old ones — were erected over Statuary Hall and the 
Supreme Court Chamber, and the floor, galleries, anterooms and ventilating 
plant of the Chamber of the House of Representatives remodeled and new ma- 
hogany desks provided. The burden of the work incident to changing the old 
Library rooms on the western front to committee rooms, in the summer of 1900, 
also fell to the lot of Woods, though suggested in part by Architect Clarke before 
his death. These rooms command a fine view of the city to the westward. They 
are commodious, and are rendered attractive by appropriate mural decorations, in 
each instance illustrative of the character of the committee which makes the room 
its home. On the main floor are the House committees on Naval Affairs, 
Patents, District of Columbia, Public Buildings and Grounds, Arts and Exposi- 
tions and Expenditures in the Treasury Department. On the Senate side are the 
Senate committee rooms on Enrolled Bills, Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, For- 
eign Relations, Pensions and Interoceanic Canals. On the gallery floor, on the 
House side, are the rooms set apart for the House committees on Mileage, Ex- 
penditures in the War Department, Pacific Railroads, Coinage, Weights and 
Measures and Expenditures in the State Department and the Minority room for 
consultation. On the Senate side of the gallery are located the Senate committees 
on Railroads, Geological Surveys, Private Land Claims, Improvements in the 
Mississippi River, Transcontinental Route to Seaboard and Organization of 
Executive Departments. 



244 



The National Capitol 



Superintendent Woods is an ardent advocate of the extension of the entire 
east front of the old central structure in accordance with what is known as the 
" Walter plan." This plan was not made pursuant to any resolution of Congress, 
but was drawn at the suggestion of President Fillmore, who took an active inter- 
est in the growth of the building, and often visited the Architect's ofifices to dis- 
cuss with Architect Walter the designs for its improvement. It is thought that 
this extension will furnish much needed space, besides bettering the proportions 
of the building, and more especially its relations to the dome. Roscoe Conkling 




^KOFoShD tXTENSlON OF EAST FRONT KNOWN AS "WALTER PLAN" 



was heard once to remark that the present structure was " a dome with a 
building under it, instead of a building with a dome upon it." 

Princes at the Capitol. — When the Prince of Wales, since King Edward 
VII., visited Washington in October, i860, he made a tour of the Capitol, and, 
curiously enough, passed over ground and within walls which the English had 
captured when they burned the building in 1814. ■ Kinahan Cornwallis gives the 
following account of the few minutes spent by the Prince in the Capitol : " The 
Prince, accompanied by Lord Lyons, Secretary Floyd and others, drove up to 
the eastern front of the Capitol, where he was received by the architect and 
chief engineer of the works, and by them conducted over the building. First 
they visited the library, from which they passed by a private staircase to the 
Senate Chamber and the committee rooms, and thence to the rotunda, where 
the beautiful paintings hung round its magnificent interior attracted their espe- 
cial attention. The history of Pocahontas was inquired into, and even the 
' Surrender of Lord Cornwallis ' became a theme of pleasant conversation. 



The National Capitol 247 

From this they proceeded through the old hall of the House of Representatives 
to the new liall of the Mouse, where the sides occupied by the administration 
and opposition members were pointed out, and much general information artorded 
in answer to their queries. The Speaker's room was next entered, then the Agri- 
cultural and other rooms, the Naval and Military Committee apartments and 
offtces of the Senate. The party then viewed the Capitol grounds from the por- 
tico of the east front, and, descending the steps after half an hour's stay, drove 
back to the White House." 

Prince Henry of Prussia visited the Capitol on the 24th of February, 1902, 
under the eyes of the applauding populace, who filled the plaza and e\-ery coign 
of vantage in the building. The Prince, who was accompanied by the German 
Ambassador, his suite and Rear Admiral Evans, was received on the eastern por- 
tico by a committee of the House of Representatives. During a moment's delay in 
the rotunda, incident to the arrival of General Corbin and some members of 
" His Highness's " suite, who followed, the Prince's eye was caught by the paint- 
ings of "The Discovery of the Mississippi " and "The Baptism of Pocahontas." 
The visitor was cheered loudly by the people in the rotunda, who were held at 
bay by a rope stretched across the great circle. The party then proceeded 
through Statuary Hall and on through the corridors by the rooms of the Military 
Affairs and Ways and Means Committees to the Speaker's room, where the Prince 
was received by Speaker Henderson, with a truly democratic handshake and a 
short address of welcome. Some say the Speaker began his greeting by referring 
to the friendly feelings existing bet^veen the Prince's " republic " and ours— but, 
seeing his error, quickly and diplomatically changed the word " republic " to 

" nation." 

The Prince was next escorted into the gallery of the House, where he sat an 
interested spectator for some minutes. When he appeared in the gallery door, 
he was cheered to the echo, not only by the occupants of the galleries, but by the 
Representatives of the forty-five States. It was hearty if not dignified, and must 
have impressed " His Highness" with a spirit of gratitude. As he took his 
departure, he was accorded a second rousing cheer from all in the chamber. He 
turned and bowed his acknowledgments. A brief reception was then held in the 
Ways and Means Committee room, where the Prince graciously accepted the 
inevitable and shook hands American-fashion with one and all. 

Later, on the arm of Senator Cullom, who headed a committee of the Senate, 
appointed to do him honor, the Prince passed through the building to the north 
wing, to be received by the more conser\-ative body of Congress. The Prince's 
suite were escorted to the diplomatic gallery by General Corbin, but the Prince 
himself and the German Ambassador were taken directly into the Senate Cham- 
ber. Here Senator Frye, the President pro tempore of the body, accorded the 
royal visitor a seat of honor next the President's chair. As the Prince entered 
the Chamber, an exciting debate was in progress as to whether the two Senators 



248 The National Capitol 

from South Carolina, who were in contempt of the Senate, should be permitted 
to vote on the Philippine bill. The Senators arose in a body, however, out of 
respect to " His Highness," as he was conducted down the aisle and to his seat. 
The Prince became so interested that he did not depart until a word from the 
Ambassador, sitting at the Clerk's desk below, indicated that it was opportune. 
The Prince thanked Senator Frye, who momentarily stopped the debate with his 
gavel, and passed out, bowing his acknowledgments to the Senators right and 
left, who again respectfully arose in their seats. The continuance of the debate 
prevented a reception being held as had been planned. As " His Highness " 
passed from the Chamber, the gallery broke into applause. 

McKinley Memorial. — On the afternoon of February 27, 1902, Sec- 
retary John Hay, the distinguished diplomat and author, before a brilliant 
assembly in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, pronounced a 
panegyric in honor of McKinley, our third martyred President. By a strange fate, 
just twenty years before, the great Ohioan, as chairman of the committee of 
arrangements, had escorted President Arthur and the orator of the day to their 
places in the same chamber, when it had fallen to the lot of IngersoU's " plumed 
knight," James G. Blaine, to voice the nation's sorrow before a similarly distin- 
guished audience, upon the life and character of Garfield, our second martyred 
President. 

The presence of Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of the Emperor of 
Germany, at such a gathering, for the purpose of eulogizing republican principles 
as represented in the person of a martyred President of our republic, who, if any- 
thing, was democratic in life and thought, was strange and unique. The Prince, 
who appeared in the simple dark blue fatigue uniform of a German Admiral, 
listened respectfully to utterances that would have been almost treason in his own 
land. He was preceded down the aisle by General Miles in brilliant regimentals. 
Some embarrassment was caused by the uncertainty of the officials as to what to 
do with the Prince after he had been brought into the chamber formally announced 
as " His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Prussia," and hailed by the inspiring 
notes of " My Country, 'tis of Thee ! " No one seemed to know what chair be- 
longed to the visiting Prince, and he was accordingly requested to move several 
times, which he did most graciously, before the German Ambassador was called 
into consultation and the matter properly arranged. 

When President Roosevelt was announced, the Marine Band played " Hail to 
the Chief." He passed down the aisle with Secretary Hay, the orator of the day. 
The President, throughout the exercises, sat by Prince Henry in the circle before 
the orator, who occupied the Clerk's desk. He exchanged a word of greeting 
with the Prince as he took his seat beside him. 



MISCELLANEOUS 




Congress. — Each House of Congress 
makes its own rules, elects its officers and 
is the judge of the qualifications and elec- 
tions of its members. Neither body can 
adjourn for more than three days without 
the consent of the other, nor to any other 
place than that in which Congress is sit- 
ting. They must meet at least once each 
year, and on the first Monday in Decem- 
ber ; but Congress may by law change this 
date. Each Congress dies at noon on the 
4th of March of the odd year. The Presi- 
dent may, "on extraordinary Occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, 
and in Case of Disagreement between 
them, with Respect to the Time of Ad- 
journment, he may adjourn them to such 
Time as he shall think proper." The- 
Senate is always an organized body, and 
needs but to be called to order by the 
presiding officer. Its officers and rules 
stand until changed, but the officers and 
rules of the House remain only for one 
Congress. 

Conimuiiicatiojis betw^eeii the 
House, Senate and President. — At 
the organization of the two Houses of 
Congress, a question arose as to the proper method by which bills and com- 
munications should be transmitted from one to the other. The matter was 
referred to a committee ; and it was agreed that in the interim such communi- 
cations should be conveyed by the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the 
House. The report of the committee was not adopted; and the practice, 
%vhich began as a temporary arrangement, has become customary. It has 
been disregarded in two instances. In 1813 the Embargo x\ct was sent to 
the Senate by two of the Members of the House, with a request that the 




250 The National Capitol 

Senate consider it confidentially ; and the bill was reported by the Senate 
to the House in like manner. The second instance was in 1815. 

Communications from the President to Congress were at first delivered by 
Cabinet officers, but the President's private secretary early became the mes- 
senger; and one of his secretaries still continues to perform this important 
duty. Communications from the Senate to the President are made through a 
committee of Senators or by its Secretary; from the House by a committee of 
Members or by its Clerk. 

Use of Senate and House Chambers. — On a few occasions in its his- 
tory, the Senate has permitted the chamber where it was sitting to be used for 
purposes of a religious or charitable nature. March 16, 1822, the Chaplains of 
Congress were given permission to occupy the Senate Chamber on the follow- 
ing day "for the purpose of public worship." January 24, 1865, Bishop 
Simpson was tendered by unanimous consent the use of the chamber for the 
purpose of delivering a lecture. The next year, a resolution was olifered to 
permit Mrs. M. C. Walling to use the chamber for the same purpose, the floor 
to be reserved for members of the Senate and House, and for their families. 
This resolution called forth much contention on the part of the Senators, but 
finally. May 8th, was reconsidered for the third time and passed, subject, 
however, to the condition that " hereafter the Senate chamber shall not be 
granted for any other purpose than for the use of the Senate." During the 
progress of the discussion over the Walling resolution, it seems the Senate 
permitted James E. Murdock, the distinguished actor, to use the chamber in 
giving a reading for the benefit of a fair in aid of the National Home for 
Orphans of Soldiers and Sailors. 

The House, as early as November 19, 1804, resolved that in future no 
person, other than the Chaplain, be permitted to perform Divine service in 
its chamber without the consent of the Speaker. The first public use of the 
present Hall of Representatives, on December 13, 1857, was for Divine ser- 
vice, the Rev. G. D. Cummins officiating. 

Privilege of the Floor. — -The privilege of the floor of the Senate is an 
honor, of late years, rarely conferred by that august tribunal. The President 
of the United States seems never to have exercised his right to appear upon 
the floor of the Senate during a regular session, save twice before the govern- 
ment moved to Washington, on August 22d and 24th, 1789, and on the 
occasion when President John Adams read his Message in 1800. On De- 
cember 7, 1833, a resolution was adopted formally recognizing the existence 
of the privilege in the Members of the House and their Clerk, Heads of De- 
partments, several officers of the Treasury, the Postmaster-General, the Presi- 
dent's secretary, federal judges, foreign Ministers and their secretaries, persons 
who had received the thanks of Congress by name, commissioners of the Navy 
Board, Governors of States or Territories, persons who had been Heads of 



IT-" 




The National Capitol 253 

Departments or members of either branch of tlie J.egislature, and, at the dis- 
cretion of the President of the Senate, members of the legislatures of foreign 
governments in amity with the United States. The rule was amended from 
time to time so as to include several officials of the army and navy, together 
with the Clerk and reporter of the Supreme Court; and in 1838, certain 
reporters of newspapers were given the privilege. It was evidently abused, 
however; for in 1853 the rules were again more stringent, requiring each 
person, except in a few cases, to register his name before going upon the 
floor. When the Senate was about to move into its new chamber in 1858, the 
privilege was cut down to officers of the Senate and Members of the House. 
It was, however, soon extended so as to embrace various federal officials ; and 
in 1872, the private secretaries of the Senators also were admitted. Contest- 
ants for seats have uniformly been admitted until the settlement of their titles, 
but no other persons are allowed in the chamber except it be parties in con- 
tempt or persons appearing as counsel in cases of contempt or impeachment. 

Since 1803, the privilege of the floor has been repeatedly sought on behalf 
of the ladies; and in several instances, it has been granted for one day only, 
notably in 1850, during the debate on the Compromise Measures, and again 
in 1858, when the admission of Kansas was under consideration. 

On- a few occasions, the Senate has honored distinguished visitors and 
citizens with the privilege of the floor. December 9, 1824, at one o'clock, 
Lafayette, in accordance with a prearranged plan, was conducted into the 
chamber by a committee appointed for that purpose, and introduced by Mr. 
Barbour, its chairman, to the Senate. The Senators arose from their seats 
and remained standing until the French general was seated in a chair to the 
right of the Vice-President, to which he was invited by that presiding officer. 
Then, upon the motion of Mr. Barbour, the Senate adjourned by unanimous 
consent that the Senators individually might present their respects to their 
honored visitor. The ex-President of the Republic of Texas was admitted to 
the floor of the Senate by unanimous consent February 17, 1842; and the 
Rev. Theobald Matthew once received a like honor, through the efforts of Mr. 
Clav, who argued in favor of the resolution in opposition to Senators Calhoun, 
Dawson and Foote. 

January 5, 1852, at one o'clock, Kos.suth was conducted into the chamber 
of the Senate by a committee appointed for that purpose, it having been 
reported by the committee and agreed to by the Senate that the same ceremo- 
nies should be held in his honor as had been held in honor of Lafayette. 
Mr. Shields, as chairman of the committee, presented the visitor to the 
Senate. The Senators having arisen, the President pro tempore addressed 
him as follows: " Louis Kossuth, I welcome you to the Senate of the United 
States. The committee will conduct you to the seat which I have caused to 
be prepared for you." The Senators then resumed their seats, after which, 



254 The National Capitol 

upon the motion of Mr. Magrum, the body adjourned to speak in person with 
the distinguished Hungarian. 

January 9, 1855, the officers and soldiers of the war of 181 2, then holding 
a convention in Washington, received the unprecedented honor of an invita- 
tion to occupy seats upon the floor of the Senate without the bar during the 
meeting of their convention in the city. February 6, i860, the ex-President 
of the Republic of Bolivia was admitted to the floor of the Senate. January 
13, 1865, upon the announcement by Mr. Grimes of the presence in the Senate 
Chamber of Vice-Acliutral Fari'ag-iit, the first officer in the navy upon 
whom that title had been conferred, the Senate by unanimous consent took a 
recess of ten minutes to exchange courtesies with their visitor. April 20, 
1870, the privilege of the floor for that day only was extended to the officers 
and members of the Legislature of the State of Ohio, then on a visit to the 
national capital. 

As a mark of respect and honor, on January 8, 1879, Georg"e Baucroffc 
was tendered the privilege of the floor, which he continued to enjoy during the 
remainder of his life. Though the resolution, reported by Mr. Blaine, spoke 
of him as " the ex-Cabinet Minister, whose appointment was earliest in the 
line of those now living," there is no doubt that his great worth as an historian 
was as instrumental in securing this honor as his administration of the port- 
folio of the Na\T and his diplomatic service abroad. Winlield S. Han- 
cock, by a resolution unanimously consented to March 5, 1881, was accorded 
by the Senate the privilege of the floor during his stay in Washington. 

The House has never been so strict in this matter as the Senate. Even 
small children of Members have been often accorded the privilege — not by 
resolution but by courtesy — the difficulty of keeping them off the floor having 
been found greater than the annoyance of their presence. 

Reporters. — In 1802, it was decided to admit reporters within the area 
of the Senate Chamber, and they were accordingly assigned a place by the 
President of the Senate. Afterwards they were removed to the gallery, but in 
1835 were again given the privilege of the floor. Five years later the number 
of reporters was limited to two for each of the daily papers and one for each 
tri-weekly published in Washington. In 1841, all reporters were again as- 
signed seats in the gallery. Six years later, the official reporters were re- 
assigned a place on the floor. In 1859, the reporters of the Globe seem to 
have been placed again in the gallery, but only temporarily. Their successors, 
whose deft fingers facilitate the preparation of the Record, remain on the floor 
at all times, excepting during executive sessions. Like privileges are now 
accorded to official reporters in the House. 

Camp Life at the Capitol. — i\.mong the first to respond to Lincoln's call 
for troops after the firing on Sumter were several companies from Pennsyl- 
vania, who hastened to Washington. The Capitol was turned into temporary 
16 



The National Capitol 255 

barracks for their reception. The night they arrived, fully five hundred letters 
were penned in the building by the soldier-boys to the girls they had left 
behind them, perhaps forever, on the hills of their native State. 

The S/ar oi April 19, 1861, says : " We found company E (of this city), 
National Guard, the spirited volunteer company recently formed, on guard at 
the north wing. They are quartered in the handsome room on Revolutionary 
Claims. Two of the Pennsylvania companies we found quartered in the lux- 
urious committee rooms of the north wing. The newly arrived soldiers had 
here Brussels carpets, marble washstands, and all that sort of thing, but 
seemed to think they should prefer to all this to have a bite of something to 
eat. They took all in good spirits except the failure in the commissariat 
department at their quarters. Some bacon sides had been sened out in the 
basement (Senate kitchen refector}'), where a fire had been started, and some 
of the soldiers were struggling with a dull knife to chip off a rasher, but 
nothing seemed to be in readiness for the hungr}- men. The three Pennsyl- 
vania companies stationed in the south wing of the Capitol were faring 
better, we found, as some of the Capitol employees had been laboring to get 
things in readiness. In the House refectories, we found the work of broiling 
and frying fresh and salt meat going on briskly, while numerous hogsheads 
and boxes containing other edibles were being depleted of their contents. 
.Ascending to the Representatives' Hall we found nearly ever}' seat and all the 
sofas of that big room occupied with the soldiers. In the centre of the room 
the Ringgold Artillery was located, and the wings were occupied by two 
other Pennsylvania companies. The lucky occupants of the sofas were taking 
a comfortable snooze, and those in the chairs were almost to a man engaged 
in writing." 

The next day came the old Massachusetts Sixth, which had bravely run the 
gauntlet of the Baltimore mob, and they also bivouacked in the Capitol. The 
S/ar thus describes the loyal reception of that regiment by the people : " The 
train stopped just outside of the depot, and the troops disembarking, formed 
in column and marched through to New Jersey Avenue, and thence to the capi- 
tol, entering the rotunda by the East Portico. They were followed by the 
crowd which were now swelled to several thousands, who cheered the troops 
vociferously as they passed up the street. They were dressed in full winter 
uniform, with knapsack strapped to their back over their gray overcoats, and 
presented a thoroughly soldierly appearance. After halting for a while in the 
rotunda, the men were taken to their quarters in the new Senate chamber and 
the adjoining rooms. Orders were then passed among the line to stack their 
arms and lay aside their knapsacks, but no man was allowed to lay off his 
overcoat, or in any way embarrass his movements in case of an alarm. Hav- 
ing eaten nothing but part of a soldier's ration since ten o'clock Thursday 
night, the troops were nearly exhausted, and on being filed into the galleries, 



256 The National Capitol 

immediately sank down upon the cushioned seats, and forgot their fatigue and 
hunger in refreshing sleep." 

The Seventh Regiment left New York City for Washington April 19, 1861, 
and upon arrival reported to President Lincoln. The regiment then marched 
to the Capitol, where it was housed for about a week, marching, by company, 
to Willard's Hotel for rations. Many of the gallant Seventh recall to this 
day the hard marble floors of the Capitol on which they spread their 
blankets. The regiment was mustered in on the campus by General 
McDowell. 

Hospital. — During the early part of the war, when Congress was not in 
session, the Capitol was a hospital for soldiers. The committee rooms were 
appropriated by the doctors and nurses, and each legislative chamber was 
turned into a general ward for the wounded, the cloak rooms and lobbies being 
reserved, for the most part, for the officers. At this time, huge bakeries were 
built in the cellarage back of the old sodded terrace ; and each morning army 
wagons might have been seen about the Capitol loading with loaves of bread 
to supply the forts, hospitals and encampments in the neighborhood. On 
July II, 1862, an appropriation of $8,000 was made to remove these army 
bakeries and repair the damage which they had done. 

Prison. — ^The Capitol has never been regularly used as a prison ; but 
occasionally men have been imprisoned in one of the basement rooms for 
contempt in refusing to answer questions put to them by committees who 
were making investigations in accordance with some act of Congress. 

Liiqiior at the Capitol. — Liquor has been sold in the Capitol from the 
earliest days. It was sold in the crypt by the apple-women soon after its 
erection ; and later, the old-fashioned desks used in the committee rooms 
became private sideboards tempting in the extreme. Owing to the abuse of 
this privilege, however, an obscure room was set apart northwest of the 
crypt, which received the now oft-used title "a hole in the wall." It was 
easily accessible from the old Supreme Court chamber, just across the cor- 
ridor, and from the Senate Chamber above, by means of the private staircase, 
which is now used in the ascension to the dome. A similar room in the old 
south wing is remembered to have been set aside at one time for the better 
accommodation of the Representatives. These rooms became useless when 
the marble extensions were erected and provision was made for the present 
cafes. Here also, by joint rule, restrictions were at one time placed upon 
the sale of liquors, but the matter was easily evaded by the statesman's pro- 
verbial " cup of tea." 

One of the liveliest contests upon this question, affecting the rights of 
man in the Capitol, occurred on April 11, 1866, when Mr. McDougall made a 
speech on the floor of the Senate which is worthy of perusal, whether one 
agrees with his conclusions or not : 



The National Capitol 257 

" Mr. President, it was once said tliat there are as many minds as men, and there is 
no end of wrangling. I had occasion some years since to discourse with a reverend doctor 
of divinity from the State which has the honor to be the birthplace, I think, of the present 
President of this body. While I was discoursing with him, a lot of vile rapscallions invited 
me to join them at the bar. I declined, out of respect to the reverend gentleman in whose 
presence I then was. As soon as the occasion had passed, I remarked to the reverend 
doctor, ' Do not understand that I declined to go and join those young men at the bar 
because I have any objection to that thing, for it is my habit to drink always in the front 
and not behind the door.' He looked at me with a certain degree of interrogation. I 
then asked him, 'Doctor, what was the first miracle worked by our great Master?' He 
hesitated, and I said to him, ' Was it not at Cana in Galilee where he converted the water 
into wine at a marriage feast?' He assented. I asked him then, 'After the ark had 
floated on the tempestuous seas for forty days and nights, and as it descended upon the dry 
land, what was the first thing done by father Noah ? ' He did not know that exactly. 
' Well,' said I, ' did he not plant a vine ? ' Yes, he remembered it then. 

" I asked him, ' Do you remember any great poet that illustrated the higher fields of 
humanity that did not dignify the use of wine, from old Homer down ? ' He did not. I 
asked, ' Do you know any great philosopher that did not use it for the exaltation of his 
intelligence ? Do you think, doctor, that a man who lived upon pork and beef and corn 
bread could get up into the superior regions — into the ethereal ? ' No he must 

' Take nectar on high Olympus 
And mighty mead in Valhalla.' 

I said to him again, ' Doctor, you are a scholarly man, of course — a doctor of divinity — a 
graduate of Yale ; do you remember Plato's symposium ? ' Yes, he remembered that. I 
referred him to the occasion when Agatho, having won the prize of Tragedy at the 
Olympic Games at Corinth, on coming back to Athens was feted by the nobility and aris- 
tocracy of that city, for it was a proud triumph to Athens to win the prize of Tragedy. 
They got together, at the house of Phsedrus, and they said,' ' Now, we have been every 
night for these last six nights drunk ; let us be sober to-night, and we will start a theme '; 
which they passed around the table as the sun goes round, or as they drank their wine, or 
as men tell a story. They started a theme, and the theme was love — not love in the vulgar 
sense, but in its high sense — love of all that is beautiful. After they had gone through, and 
after Socrates had pronounced his judgment on the true and beautiful, in came Alcibiades 
with a drunken body of Athenian boys with garlands around their heads to crown Agatho 
and crown old Socrates, and they said to those assembled, ' This will not do ; we have been 
drinking and you have not ' ; and after Alcibiades had made his talk in pursuance of the 
argument in which he undertook to dignify Socrates, as I remember it, they required (after 
the party had agreed to drink, it being quite late in the evening, and they had finished their 
business in the way of discussion) that Socrates should drink two measures for every other 
man's one, because he was better able to stand it. And so one after another they were laid 
on the lounges in the Athenian style, all except an old physician named Aristodemus, and 
Plato makes him the hardest-headed fellow except Socrates. He and Socrates stuck at it 
until the grey of the morning, and then Socrates took his bath and went down to the 
groves and talked Academic knowledge. 

" After citing this incident I said to this divine, ' Do you remember that Lord Bacon 
said that a man should get drunk at least once a month, and that Montaigne, the French 
philosopher, indorsed the proposition ? ' 

" These exaltants that bring us up above the common measure of the brute, wine and 
oil, elevate us, enable us to seize great facts, inspirations, which, once possessed, are ours 



258 The National Capitol 

forever ; and those who never go beyond the mere beastly means of animal support never 
live in the high planes of life, and cannot achieve them. I believe in women, wine, 
whiskey, and war. Let the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Wilson], if he chooses, drink 
his wine, as his fathers did before they cut down all the apple trees in Massachusetts. 
Because apple trees raised apples, and apples made cider, and cider made brandy, they cut 
them down all through New England ; but in his grandfather's time every gentleman of 
Massachusetts, or every man who was able to afford it, had on his sideboard a bottle of 
good apple brandy and he offered it to his guests the moment he received them. Those 
were the good old times when gentlemen were abounding in the land. This kind of 
regulation tends to degrade humanity and to degrade the dignity of the Senate." 

Heating. — The engines, in the basement of the Capitol, bring air into 
the building through tunnels extending from two granite towers situated in 
the park; and by means of large fans it is then driven through the building, 
heated in winter and cooled and moistened in summer. Fans also carry off 
the vitiated air. The official statements show that, from March 3, 183 1, to 
1875, the net expenditures for heating and ventilating the Capitol were ^298,- 
584.39; and that between March 3, 1855, and June i, 1875, the heating of 
the Library netted ^17,071.60. 

Lighting-. — The chambers of the Senate and House are lighted almost 
exclusively from above, through double glass roofings by day and by incan- 
descent lights by night, which burn brightly between the ceilings and produce 
soft and beautiful effects throughout the rooms. Above the Senate Chamber 
are 1,200 lamps wdth 842 outlets of sixteen candle power each, making a 
total candle power of 19,200. Above the House Chamber are 1,388 lamps 
with 1,192 outlets of sixteen candle power each, making a total of 22,208 
candle power. The net expenditures for lighting the Capitol from March 3, 
1829, to March 3, 1875, are given by the Treasury Department as $i,335j757-7o- 

Guarding tlie Capitol. — The Capitol and grounds are under the au- 
thority of a Police Board, composed of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, 
the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House and the Architect of the Capitol. This 
board acts through a Captain of Police, customarily assisted by three lieu- 
tenants and a corps of privates, who are directly responsible for the protec- 
tion and peace of the building. The supreme authority in the Senate wing 
is always vested in the Vice-President of the United States, who presides over 
the Senate ; the Supreme authority in the House wing, in the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives ; and the supreme authority in the old building, 
in the Architect of the Capitol. 

Social Events.— On three occasions the National Capitol has been 
devoted to social events, though the purpose in each instance was to raise 
money for charitable or other meritorious objects. The first of these was the 
Centennial Tea Celebration, or " Centennial Tea Party" as it was more 
popularly called, held on the evenings of the i6th and 17th of December, 



The National Capitol 259 

1874. Its purpose, like many similar ones held throughout the country about 
that time, was to awaken interest in the coming Centennial Exhibition in 
Philadelphia in 1876, and to raise funds for some of the projjosed exhibits. 
The rotunda was the principal scene of the fete, though the old Hall of Rep- 
resentatives also was open to visitors, where, in a dim, religious light, the 
Marine Band discoursed its sweetest melodies. This old hall became more 
ghostly than usual under the spell of the magician's wand— directing his mar- 
velous musicians, each with a stand and score lighted by a single flickering 
candle, even before the mute assembly of statues of the dead. 

The rotunda was artistically decorated with flags ; and the thirteen tables, 
representative of the thirteen original States, were presided over by nineteenth- 
centur}' dames, glor>ang in eighteenth-century flounces, powdered hair and 
patches. The Maryland table was conspicuous for Revolutionary relics, nota- 
bly the gilt candelabras, loaned by a niece of Mrs. General Hunter, which 
had been in the family over one hundred years. Among other objects of 
interest was a bell whose tongue had proclaimed liberty to the people in 
1776. Over the door leading from the rotunda to Statuary Hall was a minia- 
ture ship, representing the Dartmouth, commemorative of the event w^hich 
had given the gathering its name. Two boys, dressed in Mohawk costume, 
stood ready to throw the proverbial tea into Boston harbor. The presence of 
a band of Navajo Indians, with General Ardy, attracted as much interest 
from the throng as they themselves took in the " Indian boys " presiding over 
the destiny of the taxed cargo. These boys, the old chiefs promptly pro- 
nounced good Navajos. 

From a rostrum which had been prepared. General Hawley, and afterwards 
Secretary Robeson, addressed the throng. Some disappointment was felt 
by the curious that King Kalakaua, then in the city, sent his regrets. His 
suite were present, however, occupying places upon the rostrum during the 
addresses, where they attracted their share of attention. The affair was a 
brilliant one, and much credit was due to the ladies who arranged and con- 
ducted it. 

The Garfield Tea Party, which may be described as a fashionable fair, 
was held on Saturday evening, May 6, 1882, by the ladies of the National 
Aid Association for the Garfield Memorial Hospital, and realized to its worthy 
charity several thousand dollars from the Si tickets of admission and the 
profits on sales. The rotunda was occupied by thirteen booths, divided among 
the various States and bearing their coats-of-arms, from which fancy articles 
were sold by fair representatives gaily decked as maids of Gotham, in Puritan 
garb as Priscillas, or in other attractive styles. These booths, decorated with 
flags and banners, almost hid from view the historical pictures about the hall. 
The room was one mass of palms, which added greatly to the beauty of the 
scene. The flower booth stood in the center, where bouquets from the White 



26o The National Capitol 

House conservatory were sold at a premium. President Artnur and many in 
official and diplomatic circles are recorded by the press as having attended. 
A material feature of the fair was a promenade concert, and some even tripped 
the light fantastic toe within the old Hall of Representatives to the music of 
the Marine Band, playing the Devil's dance-tunes in the very faces of the 
pious-looking statues of Roger Williams and John Winthrop. Frances Hodg- 
son Burnett, the authoress, attracted much' mirthful, attention while assisting 
the ladies at the Tennessee table, that being the State in which she first 
located on coming to America. Little Lord Fauntleroy, in blue velvet, 
tugged at his mother's apron strings, while she went among the Senators in 
the role of peanut-vender. Mrs. Burnett cleverly sold and resold the same 
stock — one peanut and two shells, upon a dainty silver tray, to one statesman 
after another for what, considering the value of her merchandise, would be 
regarded as somewhat fabulous. She no sooner pocketed the money of one 
politician, accompanied with his graceful refusal of the goods, than she was 
merrily off to entice another — all for the sake of charity. 

The rotunda and adjacent rooms were granted to the Garfield Monument 
Committee, Society of the Army of the Cumberland, from November 25th to 
December 3d, 1882, for the ^National Art and Industrial Exposition, 
the object being to raise a fund to aid in the erection of a statue at Washing- 
ton to the memory of the late President Garfield. At two o'clock. President 
Arthur appeared, escorted by Mr. John W. Thompson, chairman of the Board 
of Directors. Then followed from the Senate wing, where they had assembled 
with the Executive, the justices of the Supreme Court in their judicial robes, 
the diplomatic corps in court dress, the General of the army and Admiral of 
the navy with their staffs, the Garfield Guard of Honor, members of the Society 
of the Army of the Cumberland and a number of the members of Congress, 
including Speaker Keifer and Senators Logan and Sherman. They all took 
places in the east half of the rotunda, which had been cleared for them, the 
President and Cabinet occupying a platform. The Marine Band rendered a 
selection, and a prayer was offered by Chaplain F. D. Power. The President 
then declared the Exposition duly opened to the public, after which he held 
a short informal reception before retiring. 

The lofty walls of the rotunda were draped with maroon-colored cloth to 
a height some distance above the historical paintings, which were first boarded 
over. This afforded ample space for the hanging of the pictures exhibited. 
The huge circular hall itself was divided into four sections by aisles intersect- 
ing at the center, where were exhibited statuary, pottery and other interesting 
art-treasures. 

In the center of the room, on the spot where Garfield's remains had 
lain in state a little over a year before, stood a bronzed Gothic temple con- 
taining a colossal bust of the martyred President, about the base of which 



The National Capitol 261 

living plants were tastily arranged. Over the bust, a swinging lantern of 
handsome design was kept burning. 

This was a gala week for the old Hall of Representatives, usually as 
somber as " some banquet hall deserted." There was held the bazaar and 
there were arranged the State booths, where, under the direction of lovely 
women, a tempting array of flowers, fancy-work, bric-a-brac and bon-bons were 
sold. The old room had not been the scene of such a brilliant assemblage, 
such a chatter of voices or so much merry laughter in many and many a year. 
It formed quite a contrast to the rotunda, where art had its quieting effect 
upon the visitor. Flowers, ferns and grasses graced the scene, and govern- 
ment displays of arms from the War Department and of the apparatus of the 
Life Saving Service also added to the attractiveness of the hall. 

Pianos were placed in the open space near the light-well in front of the 
Supreme Court chamber, and, at intervals during the fair, vocal selections 
were heard reverberating through the corridors of the Capitol. Even the 
gloomy crypt, over the " Washington tomb," became the scene of light and 
beauty. Local merchants there exhibited their fancy-goods, tobacco, uphol- 
stery and confections. 

The Exposition closed Saturday, December 2d, at midnight. Large 
crowds attended the last evening, when nearly everything that was left was dis- 
posed of to the public by auction, raffle or sale. The fair did not net as 
much as was expected, because of the expenses, which were necessarily large. 
It is probably the last so-called social event that will be held at the Capitol ; 
for much damage was done to the pictures in the rotunda. This led to the in- 
troduction of a resolution by Mr. Anthony, and its passage in the Senate, to 
prohibit the use of the Capitol for other than its legitimate purposes. 



APPENDIX 



CORRESPONDENCE 

On consideration of the three plans presented by Capt Hobens for providing an apart- 
ment for the H. of Representatives of the U. S. that appears to me most to be approved 
which proposes to raise, to the height of one story only, the eUiptical wall or arcade in the 
Southern wing destined ultimately for their occupation ; without carrying up at present the 
external square wall which is to include it. 

Th. Jefferson 
The Commissioners June 2d i8oi 

OF THE City of Washington. 



Washington to Commissioners. 

Mount Vernon _/Mi^ 23a' 1792 
Gentlemen, 

Your favor of the 19th accompanying Judge Turner's plan for a Capitol, I have 
duly received and have no hesitation in declaring that I am more agreeably struck with the 
appearance of it than with any that has been presented to you. 

* * * * 

There is the same defect, however, in this plan as there is all the plans which have 
been presented to you — namely, the want of an Executive department ; w, ought, if possible, 
to be obtained. — The Dome, which is suggested as an addition to the center of the edifice, 
would, in my opinion, give a beauty and grandeur to the pile ; and might be useful for the 
reception of a clock, Bell — &c. — The Pilastrade, too, in my judgement, ought (if the plan is 
adopted) to be carried around the semicircular projections at the end ; but whether it is ne- 
cessary to have the elevation of the upper story 41 feet is questionable ; unless it be to 
preserve exactness in the proportion of the several parts of the building ; — in that case, the 
smaller rooms in that storey would be elivated sufficiently if cut in two, & would be the 
better for it in the interior provided they can be lighted. — This would add to the number of 
committee rooms of which there appears to be a deficiency : — 

* * * * 

Could such a plan as Judge Turner's be surrounded with Columns, and a Colonade like 
that which was presented to you by Maj. Hallet (the roof of Hallet's I must confess does 
not hit my taste) without departing from the principal of architecture, and would not be too 
expensive for our means, it would in my judgement be a noble and desirable structure. — But 
I would have it understood in this instance, and ahuays, when I am hazarding a sentiment 
on these buildings, that I profess to have no knowledge in architecture, and think we should 
(to avoid criticisms) be governed by the established rules which are laid down by the pro- 
fessors of this art. 

I think you have engaged Mr. Hoban upon advantageous terms ; and hope if his indus- 
try and honesty are of a piece with the specimen he has given of his abilities . 



264 Appendix 

Commissioners to Thornton. 

Georgetown /^th De 1792. 

Your letter of 9th Ulto is now before us. We have to inform you that as none of the 
plans sent in for the Capitol met with our entire approbation, Mr. Hallet, a French artist 
was engaged to prepare one, which he tells us will be finished by the first of next month. 
As we shall then forward it immediately to the President, w^ think it will be best, for you, 
to lodge your plan with the Secretary of State, for the President's inspection, who, when he 
returns Mr. Hallets, plan will also send us yours. ... 



Washington to Commissioners. 

Philadelphia, 31 January^ i793- 
Gejttlernen, 

I have had under consideration Mr. Hallet's plans for the Capitol, which un- 
doubtedly have a great deal of merit. Doctor Thornton has also given me a view of his. 
These last came forward under some very advantageous circumstances. — The grandeur, 
simplicity, and beauty of the exterior ; the propriety with which the apartments are dis- 
tributed, and economy in the whole mass of the structure will I doubt not give it a prefer- 
ence in your eyes, as it has done in mine, and those of several others whom I have consulted, 
and who are deemed men of skill in architecture. I have therefore thought it better to give 
the Doctor time to finish his plan and for this purpose to delay 'till your next meeting a final 
decision. Some difficulty arises with respect to Mr. Hallet, who you know was in some 
degree led into his plans by ideas we all expressed to him. This ought not to induce us to 
prefer it to a better ; but while he is liberally rewarded for the time and labor he has ex- 
pended on it, his feelings should be saved and soothed as much as possible. 

I leave it to yourselves how best to prepare him for the possibility that the Doctor's 
plan may be preferred to his. Some ground for this will be furnished you by the occasion 
you probably will have for recourse to him as to the interior of the apartments, and the tak- 
ing him into service at a fixed allowance, and I understand that his necessities render it 
material that he should know what his allowance is to be. 

I am, &c. 



Philadelphia March 3d: 1793 
Gentlemen, 

This will be handed to you by Doctor Thornton of this City, who goes forward 
to lay before you a plan which he has prepared for the Capitol proposed to be built in the 
federal City. 

Grandeur, simplicity and convenience appear to be so well combined in this plan of 
Doctor Thornton's, that I have no doubt of its meeting with that approbation from you, 
which I have given it under an attentive inspection, and which it has received from all those 
who have seen it and are considered as judges of such things. — 

How far the expense of such a building, as is exhibited by the plan, will comport 
with the funds of the City, you will be the best judges, after having made an estimate of the 
quantity of materials and labour to be employed in executing it. — And to obviate objection 
that may be raised on this head, it should be considered, that the external of the building 
will be the only immediate expense to be incurred. — The internal work — and many of the 
ornamental parts without, may be finished gradually, as the means will permit, and still the 
whole be completed within the time contemplated by law forthe use of the building. — 
With very great esteem, 

I am. Gentlemen, 
The Commissioners Your Obed't Servant, 

OF the Federal District. G*^- Washington. 



Appendix 265 

Commissioners to Washington. 

Georgetown ii March, 1793. 

Sir, 

Dr. Thornton's plan for a Capitol has been laid before us ; the rooms for the 
different Branches of 'Congress and Conference room, are much to our satisfaction and its 
outward appearance we expect will be striking and pleasing. . . . 



Commissioners to Hallet. 

Commissioners' Office 2iy June 1794. 

Sir, 

In general nothing has ever gone from us by which we intended or we 
believe you could infer that you had the chief direction of executing the work of the 
Capitol or that you or anybody else were to introduce into that building any departures from 
Doc' Thorntons's plan without the President's or Commissioners' approbation. Mr. Hoban 
was employed here before our acquaintance began with you more especially as chief over the 
President's house, of which he was fortunate enough to produce a plan which meet with 
general we may almost say universal approbation and to extend his superintendence to any 
other public buildings we might require— we claimed his services as superior at the Capitol 
and this was explained so fully last fall on the spot. . . . 



Phila. 9th Novembr 1795 

Gentleynen, 

Your letter of the 31st. Ulto by Mr. Hatfield has been received. I have since seen 
Mr. Hoban. I have had a good deal of conversation with both of them, in the presence 
of each other, with the plans before us. 

From the explanation of the former, it would seem as if he had not been perfectly 
understood : or in other words — that now he means no change in the interior of the building, 
of the least importance ; nor any eisewhere, that will occasion delay, or add to the expense 

but the contrary: while the exterior will, in his opinion, assume a better appearance, and 

the portico be found more convenient than on the present plan. As far as I understand the 
matter, the difference lies simply in discarding the basement, & adding an attic story, if 
the latter shall be found necessary ; but this (the attic) he thinks may be dispersed, in the 
manner he has explained it, without— and to add a dome over the open or circular area or 
lobby, which in my judgement is a most desirable thing, & what I always expected was 
part of the original design, until otherwise informed in my late visit to the city, if strength 
can be given to it & sufficient light obtained. 

However proper it may have been to you, to refer the decision of the objection, of Mr. 
Hatfield to the Executive : I shall give no final opinion thereon. 

I. Because I have not sufficient knowledge of the subject, to judge with precision. 2. 
because the means of acquiring it, are not within my reach.— 3. if they were pressed as I 
am with other matters, particularly at the eve of an approaching perhaps an interesting ses- 
sion of Congress, I could not avail myself of them :— but above all, because I have not the 
precise knowledge of the characters you have to deal with— the knowledge of all the facts 
you have before you — nor perhaps the same view you can take of the consequences of a 
decision for or against Mr. Hatfield's proposed alterations, or of his abilities to carry them 
into execution if adopted. 

I have told him in decise terms, however, that if the plan on which you have been pro- 
ceeding, is not capitally defective, I cannot (after such changes, delays, and expenses as have 
been encountered already) consent to a departure from it, if either of these consequences is 
to be involved : but that if he can satisfy you of the contrary, in these points,— I should 
have no objection, as he conceives his character as an architect is in some measure at stake 
... to the proposed change • provided these things, as I have just observed, can be 
ascertained to your entire satisfaction. I added further as a matter of material moment, the 
short term for which he was engaged, & what might be the consequence of his quitting the 



266 Appendix 

building at the end thereof, — or compelling fresh perhaps exorbitant terms, if a new agree- 
ment was to be made. To this he replied, that he would not only promise, but bind himself 
to stick by the building until it was finished. — 

On the spot — at the seat of information — with a view of the materials on hand — the 
facility of obtaining others — with a better knowledge of the only characters on whom you 
can rely for carrying on the buildings, than I possess ; — with other details unknown to me, 
you can decide with more safety than I am enabled to do, on the measure proposed to be 
pursued under the embarassment which has arisen from this diversity of opinion. — That 
decision be it what it may will be agreeable to 

Gentlemen 
The Commissioners Your Ob' Serv' 

OF THE City of Washington. G^- Washington. 



Jefferson to Latrobe. 

Washington April 25. 1S08 
Sir, 

South wing — you best know what is to be done here — but I would advise 
the different branches of the work to be done successively, paying off each before another 
is begun. 

North wing — to be begun immediately and so pressed as to be finished this season. 
I. vault with brick the cellar story. 2. leave the present Senate chamber exactly in its 
present state. 3. lay a floor where the Gallery now is to be the floor of the future Senate 
Chamber, open it above to the roof to give it elevation enough, leaving the present columns 
uninjured, until we see that every thing else being done & paid for there remains enough 
to make these columns of stone. 

You see, my Dear Sir, that the object of this cautius proceeding is to prevent the pos- 
sibility of a deficit of a single dollar this year. The lesson of the last year has been a 
serious one, it has done you great injury, and has been much felt by myself — it was so con- 
trary to the principles of our Government, which make the representatives of the people the 
sole arbiters of the public expense, and do not permit any work to be forced on them on a 
larger scale than their judgement deems adapted to the circumstances of the Nation — . . , 



ARCHITECTS' LETTERS. 

William Thornton's Letter to the Members of the House of Representatives, dated 
Washington, January i, 1805. 

I consider it as a duty, not only to the public but to myself, to correct some unfounded 
statements made by Mr. Benjamin H. Latrobe, in his letter to the chairman of the com- 
mittee of the house of representatives in congress, dated at Washington, 28th February, 
1804. 

This report I did not see till 23d of April following, long after the rising of Con- 
gress, and must own it excited my surprise. Previous to Mr. Latrobe's appointment, when 
he came here to report on the dry docks, suggested by the President, he often complimented 
me on the plan of the capitol, a ground plan and elevations of which I had shown him; and 
he declared in presence of the superintendent that he never saw any plan of a building 
besides his own and this * that he would deign to execute. I must own I cannot easily con- 

* Latrobe in the notes to his report of Nov. 28, 1806, says : 

I told the author of the Plan of the Capitol that I admired that work so much that I never saw any 
plan of a building in my life, not drawn by myself, which I would be willing- to execute except that ; & 
this I declare he has asserted & will declare under oath ; but it was only one of my " polite ambigui- 
ties," & I only said so to flatter him into a friendly wish to see me appointed, for it never was my 
opinion. 

I saw a copy of the plan given to the President some months before I drew mine. I now remember 
there were ten or twelve rooms which could have been made without the expense of altering or taking 
down the brick work, & would have saved fifty thousand dollars. Many of these rooms were larger 
than any of mine, but as Oueen Elizabeth said of Queen Mary, " they were too large.— Mine are exactly 
the proper size;" for if one of the committee should fall asleep in his chair, he will not have room 
enough to fall back and break his neck. 



Appendix 267 

ceive why previous to his appointment I should hear nothing- but approbation of my plan, 
and after his appointment nothing but condemnation. 

In the commencement of the report he mentioned the approval of my plan by General 
Washington. Alterations of it were afterwards authorized by law; but not' I believe because 
it was impracticable, for on fuller investigation it was admitted to be practicable by some 
who had before deemed it not so; but because some alterations would improve it. Mr. 
Hallet was appointed to execute it, but not till after I had refused to superintend its execu- 
tion; for with the able assistance to be derived from some of the excellent workmen who 
were engaged, I am confident I could have done as much justice to the public as some 
architects, whose fame has depended more on the assistance of judicious men than on their 
own abilities . . . When General Washington honored me with the appointment of com- 
missioner, he requested I would restore the building to a correspondence with the orio-inal 
plan. Not a stone of the elevation was laid. I drew another elevation preserving the general 
ideas, but making such alterations as the difference in the dimensions of the ground plan 
rendered necessary. I improved the appearance and restored the dome. This obliged me 
to cause the foundations, laid by Mr. Hallet to form an open square in the centre, to be 
taken up on the south side of the north wing, where a segment of the dome, or grand vesti- 
bule, is now built; but a portion of what I meant to remove was directed by the board of 
commissioners to remain, in order to erect thereon a temporary building of brick, for the 
accommodation of Congress, till more committee rooms could be prepared, by a further 
progress of the building. On the opposite side the walls built by Mr. Hallet between the 
dome and representatives' chamber, still remain, which may in some measure account for 
the difference, mentioned by Mr. Latrobe, between the plan as laid and the drawing. Mr. 
Hallet was not in the public service when or since I was appointed a commissioner which 
was on the 12th September, 1794. Mr. Hadfield was appointed to superintend the work at 
the Capitol, October 15th, 1795. At the time of his appointment the freestone work of the 
basement story of the north wing was carried up too high to admit of any material alteration, 
and the materials were principally prepared for its completion. He waited on General 
Washington to urge the propriety of various alterations. The General (then President) dis- 
countenanced all alterations, being satisfied with the plan as then under execution. In con- 
sequence of this Mr. Hadfield declined the further superintendence of the capitol. He was 
afterwa'-ds re-appointed to superintend the execution of the plan without alterations, in 
which he engaged. Thus Mr. Latrobe must have been exceedingly misinformed, when he 
speaks of the various stiles of each architect shewing themselves in the work : one having 
been out of public employ, before the present elevation was drawn, and before a single 
freestone was laid, and the other having taken his discharge because he was not permitted 
to make any material alterations. They are both however men of genius, which I acknowl- 
edge with pleasure. 

Mr. Latrobe's observation respecting the want of agreement of the plan and foundation 
is already answered; but, if I could be surprised at any observation made by Mr. Latrobe, 
after reading his report, it would be at his stating that the author furnished him with only 
a ground plan. It may be true that I did not give him drawings, but I informed him what 
was intended in completing the south wing. 

He speaks of the impracticability of the plan of the south wing. It has been deemed 
practicable by very skilful, and practical architects; and I never heard it disputed by any 
other than himself. He told me he could not execute it as it was intended. To support a 
coved cieling, formed in the manner of the Hal au Ble at Paris, of the extent contemplated, 
on columns of wood, cannot, in the conception of any architect, be difficult; and I believe 
it will be generally admitted, that the grandeur of the room contemplated, would far exceed 
the appearance of the one intended by him, and at a much less expense. The stability of 
the work could not be an objection, when it is remembered how many hundred years West- 
minster hall has stood. 

It is astonishing what evidence is considered as sufficient to establish facts to a mind, 
that, I am sorry to say, appears preoccupied by a desire to condemn. " The most indis- 
" putable evidence was brought before me to prove" {a negatioii) "that no sections or 
" detailed drawings of the building had ever existed, excepting those which were from time 
"to time made by Messrs. Hallet and Hadfield, for their own use in the direction of the 
"work," p. 10. It will be remembered that one of these gentlemen never superintended 
the laying of a single stone of the elevation; the other did not make a single section that I 



268 . Appendix 



ever heard of, but required sections of me, which I drew, and of which Mr. Monroe told 
me he had informed Mr. Latrobe! 

The whole area of the south wing of the capitol might be conceived by some as too 
extensive for a chamber of representatives, but if we consider the rapid increase of the 
American people, and that 500 representatives may be required, neither the space allotted 
for the members nor the gallery for the audience, will be considered as too large. To lessen 
either would consequently be in my opinion a very important objection. 

Mr. Latrobe mentions the want of committee and other rooms. The President of the 
United States had, some months before Mr. Latrobe's appointment, spoken to me on this 
subject, and asked if they could not be formed in the basement story, with convenience 
under the representatives' chamber. Approving much the idea of many accounts, indepen- 
dent of its restoring the building to a greater conformity with my original drawing, from 
which I had deviated by other advice, I made a design of the north wing, raised the com- 
mittee rooms under the galleries, and with a lobby to the south; also with chambers for the 
accommodation of the officers of the house ; besides what was intended over the galleries. 
The President's idea was carried further, for I drew a plan of the Senate room, raised 
within a few feet of the base of the columns, and with two good rooms underneath, one on 
each side, besides two smaller for papers, &c. and a passage from a door in the external 
centre to the lobby. This would much improve the proportion of the Senate room, the 
arcade of which is too high for the columns. A coved cieling might be thrown from the 
entablature, so as to give any required elevation. These alterations were laid before the 
President many months before j\Ir. Latrobe's report was written; and if Mr. Latrobe had 
extended his alterations only to the committee and other rooms, however they might have 
differed from mine in form, or appropriation, I would not have considered them of sufficient 
importance to call forth my objections; but under a sincere conviction that the representa- 
tives' chamber will be irreparably injured by alteration now in execution, I am compelled by 
a sense of duty, but with great reluctance on other accounts, to express my disapprobation 
of the measure. 

I have seen Mr. Latrobe's report of December last, and find much stress is laid on the 
imperfections of the foundation of the south wing, which required it to be taken down. 
Six feet (in height) of that foundation had been built by a contractor, during whose absence 
the work was ill-constructed by those in whom he had confided. The work was directed to 
be examined, and was condemned by the commissioners. The correspondent part in the 
north wing was taken down, and good bond stones intermingled throughout the new work, 
by which it was rendered completely solid; and as that and the stone work of the elevation 
were well executed, if any defect can hereafter be discovered it must depend upon injuries 
received, by piercing so many large holes through it, or on defects in the lower part of the 
foundation, which was laid before I was in office. It was a query at the time of its execu- 
tion whether it would not be better to lay the foundation with inverted arches, but it was 
thought more expensive and not better than by good bond-stone in the more usual manner ; 
and I imagine that those who pierced the foundation of the north wing, thereby injuring it, 
by cutting loose many of the bonds, found it to be unexceptionable work; and that it will 
yet stand firm I have no doubt, but I think it might have been perfectly aired by tubes, 
at a trifling expense and without risking any injury whatever. 

The roof has been justly condemned. It is next to impossible to put any elevated 
covering that shall resist the ingress of water when the gutters are filled with snow, or 
deluges of rain. I objected to the roof as now executed but not solely on that account. By 
rising so high, the balustrade is darkened behind, till the beholder advance so near the 
building as to lose the general view: it is thus rendered heavy in appearance. I proposed a 
flat roof made with a composition that has since been found to answer perfectly by Mr. 
Foxall, who by varying the ingredients a little has formed a variety of excellent cements. 
It is made in imitation of terraced roofs though greatly superior. A covering formed in the 
manner he has executed, is not much dearer than a roof of good shingles, and it will stand 
for ages without leaking a drop, if even knee deep in water. Its excellence also consists, 
not a little, in its growing better by age, it becoming as hard as iron itself. Those who 
have any doubts of the perfection of this kind of covering may be easily satisfied by exam- 
ining a roof executed by Mr. Foxall the year before last at his own house in Georgetown, 
or the roof of one of the public stores executed the last year at the navy yard in this city. 



Appendix 269 



Latrobe's Private Letter to the Individual Members of Congress, November 28, 1806. 

In the year 1803 . . . that part of the south wing of the Capitol in which the 
House of Representatives then sat was in such a state as to require building from the very 
foundation ... In the year 1803, the foundations of the external walls were con- 
demned and pulled down. The center building occupied by the House of Representatives 
remained standing, — because in the opinion of many, a further appropriation appeared at 
least doubtful. The difficulty of working in the narrow space round that building can 
scarcely be conceived, and as the House met in December, all our men were of course dis- 
charged before that time. In 1804 the session concluded in March, & then first could our 
works commence. Much time was lost in pulling down and removing the old building, 
and before any new work could be begun. However, the progress made that year was 
great, considering all the disadvantages we labored under . . . As I had distinguished 
the recess from the south wing, the omission to appropriate for that part appeared to forbid 
its erection. But the plan of the building was necessarily such, that the whole area of the 
south wing was repaired for the Hall of the House of Representatives. The external walls 
therefore could receive no support from internal walls: — The south, eas west walls 

had been built so solidly and were so strengthened in the angles by the stair cases of the 
galleries, that there could be no danger of their giving way to the pressure of the vaults, — 
but the north wall which, in relation to the whole building, is an internal wall, and the 
support of which depended upon the recess, had not been calculated to stand alone. It was 
therefore carried up one story, and no alteration of consequence could be made 

That the House has not been completed, has been simply owing to this, that its com- 
pletion was impossible in itself. When the President of the United States did me the honor 
to entrust to me the charge of the buildings, I found the north wing already constructed, 
and a commencement made in the erection of the south wing. 

The designs of the public buildings at Washington were chosen from a collection 
obtained by public advertisement, offering a reward for the plan most approved by the then 
president of the United States. This mode of procuring designs of public buildings, 
though exceedingly common, is certain of defeating its own end. It brings into competi- 
tion all the personal vanity of those who think they have knowledge and taste in an art which 
they have never had an opportunity to learn or practice ; * . . . and it keeps out of the 
competition all who have too much self-respect to run the race of preference with such motly 
companions, and especially of all regularly educated professional men, — who understand 
their business too well not to know that a picture is not a design. 

I frankly confess that excepting in a few details, all my ideas of good taste, and even 
of good sense in architecture were shocked by the style of the building, f 

The entrance to the south wing from the ground or office story will be in the recess. 
That in the east front will be closed, it being intended for a window. It has been opened 
to the ground only for the convenience of the workmen. The outer door leads into a hall 
or vestibule. On the left hand is a door opening into a committee room. From the 

* When I wrote this I did not know that our Present Chief Magistrate of the Union [Jeffer- 
son] , was then Secretary of State: and that he published in his own navze for the plans, and aided 
General Washington, the the^i President, in the choice of the one selected : but let me at the same time 
add, that as / was not in the country, it became a matter of necessity ; as there is not a scientific man in 
the country but myself, as I once told the present Secretary of the Navy, before several witnesses. I 
cannot on this subject say less, though iiiodesty and delicacy prevent me from saying much more. 

t On reflection I must admit that the style of the Capital is very plain, and almost destitute 
of decoration considering it is the highest order, the Corinthian; especially if we compare it with some 
of the most admired works of the ancients ; particularly the Maison Quarre of Nismes, the frieze of 
which is remarkably rich, and all the dressings of the doors and windows, &c. are very highly orna- 
mented by carving, while those of the Capitol are plain and the frieze of the entablature has not a 
stroke of carving, or ornament. The Maison Quarre is thought by the President, and others, to be one 
of the finest pieces of antiquity, a model of which he sent and recommended for the plan of the Capitol 
at Richmond, but which is said to be spoiled by deviating from the plan, which I saw when I was 
building that Chef D'Oeuvre, the Penetentiary flouse, in that city. However, I am sorry to say I for 
one differ from this great man; but he cannot attribute to this declaration any intention to offend, when 
I say I differ with every great architect for these three or four hundred years back. He would never 
have thought of the Maison Quarre, if he could have formed an idea of my Centre house, Philadelphia. 
The 3ank of Pennsylvania I know has been much admired, but it would have been much handsomer if 
Joseph Fox and the late John Blakely, Esqrs. directors, who had travelled, had not confined me to a 
copy of the Parthenon of Athens, which circumstance the world are not generally acquainted with. 
The lantern on the top I claim as my own, the' every body who wants taste thinks it spoils the whole. 



270 Appendix 

vestibule four steps lead up to the area of the staircase which is lighted from the sky, and 
gives light, to the entrance, to the octagon vestibule of the offices, and to the stairs. On 
the left hand the stairs lead up to the door of the hall of Representatives on the principal 
floor. The area of the staircase is connected with the vestibule of the offices, into which, 
on the left, a spiral staircase for the convenience of the persons coming from above to the 
offices, descends. A door immediately in front leads into a court which contains the pump, 
furnishes light to the deep part of the buildings, and contains various domestic conveniences. 
On the right is the entrance to the center of the building, which will be the principal and 
public access to the Capitol. 

On the left hand of the octagon vestibule is the access to the offices, by the general 
passage or corridor. Immediately on entering the corridor and descending a few steps is a 
passage to a committee room on the right. The arched doors on each hand lead to deposits 
of fuel, and to the stoves which warm the hall above. This passage is crossed by a corridor 
running east and west. Immediately in front is the office of the clerk of the House. The 
center of the office is open for those who have business in it, — in each angle is a private 
office for the engrossing clerks, and around are six spacious vaults for the records of the 
House. 

Returning into the corridor and proceeding to the west, you enter an antichamber, in 
which those who have business with the committees must wait. To the right are a small, 
and a large committee room, and to the left another of convenient size. The large com- 
mittee room is accessible separately from the corridor. The east end of the corridor leads 
into another antichamber, which on the left communicates with two committee rooms, the 
largest of which opens also into the vestibule of the entrance. On the right is the room 
appropriated to the use of the President of the United States, whenever he shall come to 
tiie House. 

On the south front of the building near each end, are the doors of the gallery, which 
at present have the appearance of windows, but which will soon be cut down to the' level of 
the other doors.* Each door leads into a small lobby, from which a spiral staircase ascends 
to the galler}-. These doors are so far distant from the entrance of the members to the 
House, that the inconvenience generally experienced by having only one entrance will be 
avoided. 

The principal access to the hall of Representatives will be — when the Capitol shall be 
finished, — from the centre of the building, through the small circular vestibule. But 
the most usual entrance will always be from the basement stor}', & by the stairs in the 
recess. These stairs land at the door of the Legislative Hall on one side, as do the spiral 
stairs of the offices on the other. On entering the great door of the hall, the lobby of the 
House extends on both sides, and is separated from the area of the House by the basement 
wall upon which the columns of the House are erected. The bar of the House is the 
opening of this wall : opposite to it on the other side will be the Speaker's chair. 

The lobby of the House is so separated from it, that those who retire to it cannot see, 
and probably will not distinctly hear, what is going forward in it. This arrangement has 
been made with the approbation of the President of the United States, and also under the 
advice of the Speakers of the tv\-o houses. 

The construction of the Hall of Representatives was imposed by the general plan of 
the work. Whether it will be a room, in which to hear & to speak will be easy, can only 
be determined by actual experiment. All that the knowledge to which I can pretend, 
could do, has been done to make it so, by surrounding the area with a plain surface, and 
raising the columns above the heads of the speakers, and I believe this attempt will be suc- 
cessful. Rooms encumbered with many columns and projecting cornices are not well adapted 
to the ease of hearing and speaking. Of this truth the Chamber of the Senate is perhaps 
the most striking proof that can be adduced. 

* On the south front ... I must own I do not know what the workmen were doing- in building- 
up two windows, with expensive hewn freestone, which I shall be obliged to cut down and altar into 
doors : but I was not present when they made these foolish blunders. They likewise built up the wall of 
Xixe: projecting recess and omitted three windows which I have been obliged to cut out first. The stairs 
to which these window doors will hereafter lead, ofEer something as amusing as the brickkiln at the 
bottom of the nth page. As I was going up one of these stone stairs their want of height knocked off 
my spectacles, on which there was a general laugh ; whereupon, I immediately ordered the workmen 
to cut away the under part of each step, which has been done ; and now there is room enough for a man 
5 feet 6 inches to walk up without stooping. These steps have some how or other separated from the 
walls, but that will never be seen when plugged and plastered. 



Appendix 271 



That it will be a splendid room, — probably the most splendid Legislative Hall that has 
ever been erected, — is certain : & it will also be extremely convenient in its arrangement, 
and remarkably warm in winter and cool in summer. 

The whole of the wing excepting the Legislative Hall is vaulted. It was originally 
intended that this dome should also be turned in bricks, and the construction is such that it 
may at any time, should the present dome of timber decay, be covered with a brick or stone 
dome. 

On the ground floor of the north wing, including lobbies and stairs, are 12 apartments, 
■ — in the south are 22 apartments, lobbies & stairs, & il depots of records, & fuel cellars of 
cheaper construction ; in all 33. 

Note. — In recapitulating the expenses of the south wing^, I beg leave to state, that I have not 
included any of the fine flat stone taken up from the footways from the Capitol to George-Town, nearly, 
which cost the commissioners eight or ten thousand dollars ; for why should I reckon stones picked out 
of the streets . . . They are clear gain : nor have I reckoned what I took from the foundations in 
the front ; nor have I calculated many tons of free-stone rejected by the commissioners as unworthy, 
of the front. If I show the skill of working up what they thought unworthy, I ought to claim credit. 
instead of allowing such items as charges. 



LETTER FROM JOHN TRUMBULL RELATIVE TO HIS PAINTINGS IN 

THE ROTUNDA. 

Read and laid upon the Table, December g, 1828. 

To the Hon. the Speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. • 

Sir : On the 30th of May last, I received from the Commissioner of the Public Build- 
ings a copy of the resolution of the honorable the House of Representatives, dated the 26th 
of May, authorizing him to take the proper measures for securing the paintings in the 
Rotundo from the effect of dampness, under my direction. 

I had always regarded the perpetual admission of damp air into the Rotundo from the 
crypt below, as the great cause of the evil required to be remedied ; and, of course, consid- 
ered the effectual closing of the aperture which had been left in the centre of the floor as an 
indispensible part of remedy. I had communicated my opinions on this subject to the 
Chairman of the Committee on the Public Buildings, and had been informed that this had 
been ordered to be done. 

So soon, therefore, as I received information from the Commissioner that this work was 
completed, (as well as an alteration in the skilight, which I had suggested,) and that the 
workmen and incumbrances were removed out of the room, I came on. 

1st. All the paintings were taken down, removed from their frames, taken off from the 
panels over which they are strained, removed to a dry warm room, and there separately and 
carefully examined. The material which forms the basis of these paintings is a linen cloth, 
whose strength and texture is very similar to that used in the top gallant-sails of a ship of 
war. The substances employed in forming a proper surface for the artist, together with the 
colors, oils, &c. employed by him in his work, form a sufficient protection for the threads 
of the canvas on this face, but the back remains bare, and, of course, exposed to the delec- 
terious influence of damp air. The effect of this is first seen in the form of milldew ; it was 
this which I dreaded ; and the examination showed that milldew was already commenced, 
and to an extent which rendered it manifest that the continuence of the same exposure, 
which they had hitherto undergone, for a very few years longer, would have accomplished 
the complete decomposition or rotting of the canvas, and the consequent destruction of the 
paintings. The first thing to be done was to dry the canvas perfectly, which was accom- 
plished by laying down each picture successively on its face, upon a clean dry carpet, and 
exposing the back to the influence of the warmth of a dry and well aired room. The next 
thing was to devise and apply some substance which would act permanently as a preserva- 
tive against future possible exposure. 

I had learned that, a few years ago, some of the eminent chemists of France had exam- 
ined with great care several of the ancient mummies of Egypt, with a view to ascertain the 
nature of the substance employed by the embalmers, which the lapse of so many ages had 
proved to possess the power of protecting from decay a substance otherwise so perishable as 

17 



272 Appendix 

the human body. This examination had proved that, after the application of liquid asphal- 
tum to the cavities of the head and body, the whole had been wrapped carefully in many 
envelopes, or bandages of linen ^ prepared -ujith wax. The committee of chemists decided 
further, after a careful examination and analysis of the hieroglyphic paintings with which 
the cases, &c. are covered, that the colors employed, and still retaining their vivid bright- 
ness, had also been prepared and applied with the same substance. 

I also knew that, towards the close of the last century, the Antiquarian Society of Eng- 
land had been permitted to open and examine the stone coffin deposited in one of the vaults 
of Westminster Abbey, and said to contain the body of King Edward I., who died in July, 
1307. On removing the stone lid of the coffin, its contents were found to be closely envel- 
oped in a strong linen cloth, waxed. Within this envelope were found splendid robes of 
silk, enriched with various ornaments covering the body, which was found to be entire, and 
to have been wrapped carefully in all its parts, even to each separate finger, in bandages of 
fine linen, which had been dipped in melted wax ; and not onl)' was the body not decom- 
posed, but the various parts of the dress, such as a scarlet satin mantle, and a scarlet piece 
of sarsnet which was placed over the face, were in perfect preservation, even to their colors. 
The knowledge of these facts persuaded me that wax, applied to the back of the paintings, 
would form the best defence, hitherto known to exist, against the destructive effects of damp 
and stagnant air ; and therefore, 

2dly. Common beeswax was melted over the fire with an equal quantity (in bulk) of oil 
of turpentine ; and this mixture, by the help of large brushes, was applied hot to the back 
of each cloth, and was afterwards rubbed in with hot irons, until the cloths were perfectly 
saturated. 

3dly. In the mean time, the nitches in the solid wall, in which the paintings are 
placed, were carefully plaistered with hydraulic cement, to prevent any possible exudation 
of moisture from the wall ; and as there is a space from 2 to 8 inches deep between the sur- 
face of the wall and the back of the panels on which the cloths are strained, I caused small 
openings to be cut into the wall, above and under the edge of the frames, and communicat- 
ing with those vacant spaces, for the purpose of admitting the air of the room behind the 
paintings, and thus keeping up a constant ventilation, by means of which the same tempera- 
ture of air will be maintained at the back of the paintings as on their face. 

4thly. The cloths were finally strained upon panels, for the purpose of guarding against 
injury from careless or intentional blows of sticks, canes, &c., or chiidrens' missiles. These 
panels are perforated with many holes, to admit the air freely to the back of the cloths ; and 
being perfectly dried, were carefully painted, to prevent the wood from absorbing or trans- 
mitting any humidity. The whole were then restored to their places, and finally cleaned 
with care, and slightly revarnished. 

5thly. As the accumulation of dust arising from sweeping so large a room, and, what 
is much worse, the filth of flies, (the most destructive enemies of painting,) if not carefully 
guarded against, renders necessary the frequent washing and cleaning of the surface of 
pictures, every repetition of which is injurious, I have directed curtains to be placed, which 
can be drawn in front of the whole, whenever the room is to be swept, as well as in the 
recess of the Legislature during the Summer, when flies are most pernicious. 

6thly. As nothing is more obvious than the impossibility of keeping a room warm and 
dry by means of fire, so long as doors are left open for the admission of the external air, I 
have further directed self-closing baise doors to be prepared and placed, so that they will 
unavoidably close behind every one who shall either enter or leave the room. 

When the doors are kept closed, and fires lighted in the furnaces below, to supply warm 
air, I find the temperature of this vast apartment is easily maintained at about 68 of Fahren- 
heit ; and the simple precaution of closed doors being observed, in addition to the others 
which I have employed, I entertain no doubt that these paintings are now perfectly and 
permanently secured against the delecterious effects of dampness. 

I regret that I was not authorized to provide against the dangers of damage by violence, 
whether intended or accidental. Curiosity naturally leads men to touch, as well as to look 
at, objects of this kind ; and, placed low as they are, not only the gilded frames and cur- 
tains, but the surface of the paintings are within the reach of spectators : repeated handling, 
even by the best intentioned and most careful, will, in the course of a few years, produce 
essential damage. But one of the paintings testifies to the possibility of their being 
approached, for the very purpose of doing injury ; the right foot of General Morgan, in the 



Appendix 273 



nirture of Saratoga was cut off with a sharp instrument, apparently a penknife. I have 
Knaired the wound but the scar remains visible. If I had possessed the authonty I should 
rre nlaced in fron and at the distance of not less than ten feet from the wall an iron 
Snf of sich sTren^th and elevation as should form a complete guard against external 
nury by ill-disposed persons ; unless they employed missiles of some force. 



LETTER FROM THE SONS OF BENJAMIN WEST, OFFERING TO SELL 
HIS PAINTINGS TO THE GOVERNMENT. 
Read, and laid upon the Table, December ii, 1826. 

To the Hon. J. W. Taylor, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America. 
Sir- The sons of the late Benjamin West request that you will do them the favor to repre- 
seM to Congress the desire they have of offering the body of their father s works, which 
has devolved to them, to the Government of the United States for purchase, feeling deeply 
^moressed with the conviction that the works of their father should find their final place of 
d^stinv in his native country. Their father was the first American born subject who dis- 
tinau sVed 1 fmself b, a spontaneous pursuit of the fine arts, his extraordinary love of which 
liced himTleave his native country in the twenty-first year of his age, to study the 
works of the renowned masters of that art, which were to be seen m Italy _ 

After the completion of his studies in Italy, which he prosecuted, during four years, 
withtuch avfdityXt it occasioned a fever which nearly deprived him of life, he went to 
rn^land\vhee\s talent for the arts very soon attracted the attention of some leading 
amateur characters • and his having painted a picture of an interesting subject, that dis- 
nkved his rbUities for the Archbishop of York, he shortly after_ became honored b) 
Eotii and pa ronage of the king, (George the Third,) who beneficently sustained him 
nh"s practice and study of the fine arts for nearly forty years, and engaged h™ m grea 
n ans Trom the subjects of English history and the sacred writings, for the embelhshmen 
o Windsor Castle Under the sanction 'of his majesty, he became one of the original 
founders of the Royal Academy in London. In testimony, also of his talent, and the 
eXmfn wh ch he was held by his contemporaries in the arts, they elected hini twenty- 
Sen times PresSent of the Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, (of which 
he wasTne of the or^ainal founders,) and as a further sanction of the abilities he possessed 
as an artfst and of he spreading abroad of his fame, he likewise received honorable di - 
Unctions om most of the academies for the encouragement and promotion of the fine arts 
n the poired countries of Europe. Whenever his works first made their appearance 
before the public they excited a very strong sensation throughout the metropolis ; and his 
Sree latter^producdoL, Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple, (which has since been pre- 
sented b^Mr West to he Hospital of Philadelphia,) Christ Rejected by the Jews, and his 
darn^ and extraordinary picture of Death on the Pale Horse, produced no common sensa- 
fion on the m nds o thi people of England. His demise, which took place after he had 
oSsedhseXv first yeal was considered and felt as a public loss for the circumstance 
of his fatte productions appearing, at his venerable age, amongst the most vigorous and 
sibUme of hisCorks occasioned a v;ry remarkable augmentation to his fame at the close o 
his Ufe His remains were honored by a public funeral, and were interred ^ the grea 
Cathedml of S Paul's within the city of London, where all the members o the Royal 
Academy many of the nobility, his relatives and select friends, attended, m token of their 
Mgh e"tfma"io7of his genius,'and in respect for his excellent moral character^ndami^.ble 
disposition : but he had enemies, who occasioned him much anxiety and difficulty m his 

^'"'ThTcareer he ran in the art, whilst residing in London, occupied a ^P^.^^^ °f "\°7^^han 
half a century. He left his native country in the year 1760, and became deceased in the 
city of London, on the loth of March, 1820. The number of the ^^5^ .^J^^^^^^'^J^, 
behind him is indeed truly astonishing: his whole life was one ^'^^^f °^^^"^f ^> ' il^X to 
ence and endeavor to perfect himself in the art, and to dispense to others, (especially to 



274 Appendix 

young and rising artists,) the knowledge that he had thus diligently acquired. It is, there- 
fore, verj' generally considered, that, so long as science, or art, or virtue, shall exist, the 
name of Benjamin West will stand pre-eminent in honorable fame. 

After giving this little outline of the life of Mr. West, his sons now beg of you to offer, 
in their names, to the Government of the United States, that portion of his works which 
has devolved to them. They hope that the offer will not be rejected, devoutly wishing that 
the name of their father may thus honorably be transmitted to the posterity of the country 
wherein he was bom, and that the portion of his works, which they now offer, may form the 
foundation of a school for the growth of the fine arts in the rapidly advancing States of 
America. In Europe, almost everywhere is to be seen what is generallv denominated a 
National Gallery, composed of pictures and statues by the old masters: the honor of having 
produced them belonging to Italy and Greece, no countr}- ever yet had such an opportunity 
of commencing a truly National Gallery as now presents itself to the United States of America; 
for none of the nations of the old world, at such an early period of their histories, ever had 
an artist who stood so distinguished in the eyes of the world, or that had produced so 
numerous and so diversified a body of celebrated works as Benjamin West. They are the 
productions of American bom genius, and let them be deposited in whatever quarter of the 
globe destiny may place them, the honor of ha\-ing produced them belongs to the United 
States of America. 

Hoping that, from your situation in the House of Representatives, you will not find it 
at variance with your duty and opinions to speak and use your influence in recommendation 
of our offer. 

We remain, with the highest consideration and respect. 

Your obedient servants, 

Raphael L. West, 



Newman Street, London, April 12th, 1826. 



Benjamin West. 



PORTRAITS OF LOUIS XVI. AND MARIE ANTOINETTE. 

The minister plenipotentiary of France, having on the 6th transmitted to Congress a 
letter, dated 13th August, 17S3, from his most christian majesty, in answer to their letter 
of the 14th June, 1779, and accompanied the same with a memorial informing Congress, 
that the portraits of the king and queen are arrived at Philadelphia ; that he has orders to 
present them to this assembly, and has taken the measures necessan,' for their safe keeping 
until Congress shall be ready to receive them ; the said letter and memorial were referred to 
the consideration of a committee. 

On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Gerrv, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. 
Read, ... 

Resolved, That the following letter be signed by the President in behalf of the United 
States in Congress assembled, and transmitted to his most christian majesty, . . 

Great, Faithful and Beloved Friend and Ally, 

Your majesty's letter of the 13th of August last has been received by the United States 
in Congress assembled with a degree of satisfaction and pleasure which those onlv can con- 
ceive, who, to the highest sentiments of respect, unite feelings of the most affectionate 
friendship. 

The portraits of your majesty and of your royal consort having arrived at Philadelphia, 
have been carefully preserved by your faithful minister, the chevalier de la Luzerne, whose 
attention on this, as on all other occasions, merits the acknowledgements of Congress. 

These lively representations of our august and most beloved friends will be placed in 
our council chamber ; and can never fail of exciting in the mind of everv- American, an 
admiration of the distinguished virtues and accomplishments of the royal originals. 

We beseech the Supreme Ruler of the Universe constantly to keep your majesty- and 



Appendix 275 



your royal consort in his lioly protection, and to render the blessings of your administration 
as extensive as the objects of your majesty's benevolent principles. 

Done at Annapolis, in the state of Maryland, this i6th day of April, 1784, by the 
United States in Congress assembled. 

Your faithful friends and allies. 

Resolved, That the President inform the honourable the minister of France, that Con- 
gress have a due sense of the care which he has taken for preserving the portraits ; and are 
desirous they may continue in his possession until proper places can be provided for them. 



REPORTS OF ARCHITECTS UPON THE ACOUSTICS OF OLD HALL OF 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

Extract from Latrobe's Report of March 23, 1808. 

Before I close my account of the south wing of the Capitol, I most respectfully beg 
permission to notice in this report the two objections to the Hall of Congress, which were 
discovered immediately on the opening of the session — the difficulty of hearing and speak- 
ing in it, and the unpleasant effect of the mode adopted to warm the House upon the air of 
the room. 

In every large room the great average distance of the speaker from the hearer is a 
cause of difficulty of hearing and speaking which cannot be removed ; but the effect of this 
cause bears no proportion to that indistinctness which arises from the innumerable echoes that 
are reverborated from the walls and arched ceiling of such a room as the Hall of Representa- 
tives. These surfaces give back to the ear echoes, not only of the voice of the speaker, at a 
perceptible distance of time from the original sound, but also distinct echoes of every acci- 
dental noise and separate conversation in the House and lobbies, and renders debate very 
laborious to the speaker and almost useless to the hearers. This defect was foreseen; and, 
in furnishing the House, the curtains and draperies of the windows were made as ample as 
propriety would admit ; draperies were hung in other proper situations, and a large cur- 
tain closed the opening of the columns behind the Speaker's chair. But all this drapery 
bore a small proportion to the extent of uncovered surface, though it rendered those particu- 
lar situations of the hearer, thus freed from echo, superior to all others. 

If the dimensions of a room, erected for the purpose of debate, were so moderate that 
the echoes of the voice of the speaker could reach the ear of the hearer, without the inter- 
vention of a perceptable distance of time, then the echo would strengthen and support the 
voice; and we find that this is actually the case in small lecture-rooms, expressly constructed 
to produce innumerable echoes. But there is a circumstance attending halls of debate which 
distinguishes them from rooms intended for the lectures of one speaker ; the impossibility 
of preserving perfect silence, and of confining persons to their seats, so as to prevent all 
sound but that of the speaker's voice ; for it is evident that sounds from all quarters and of 
all kinds will be re-echoed with perfect impartiality. 

The Hall of Representatives is one hundred and ten feet long from east to west, and 
fifty-five feet high ; therefore, before the echo of a sound, issueing from the center of the 
floor, can return to its place, it must travel one hundred and ten feet, a distance very per- 
ceptible to the ear in the return of echo. The distance will be still greater if the speaker be 
placed at a distance from the hearer. And as the walls, in their various breaks, return each 
a separate echo, their confusion must necessarily render it almost impossible to understand 
what is spoken. 

From these plain facts it is evident that the walls of every large hall of debate should 
be covered with tapestry, or other material which does not reverberate sound. On refer- 
ence to the original drawing it will be seen that this was intended, but neither the time nor 
the extent of the appropriation for furniture, which proved sufficient for the indispensible 
articles of carpeting, tables, chairs, desks, and curtains, would admit. 

. . . it was proposed to suspend curtains between the columns round the whole in- 
ternal area of the House, and others behind the seats of the galleries, and to paint the ceiling 
in flock. The proposal was approved, and has been executed, as far as it could be done, by 
hanging all the curtains ; the painting of the ceiling must be postponed until the House 



276 Appendix 



rises. The fullest success attended this measure ; and, although the echoes of the ceiling 
produce in the center of the House some confusion of sound, it is a small inconvenience, 
which will be removed. When the size of this room is considered, it may be safely asserted 
that it is now as little liable to objection as any other hall of debate in the United States ; 
that it is in all respects superior to most others, and that, when the proposed improvements, 
which are of comparatively small import, are made, it will be second to none in every legis- 
lative convenience. 



Extract from Latrobe's Report of November 18, 1817. 

On this occasion a plan was submitted to and approved by the President by which the 
inconveniences experienced in the former House' were endeavored to be obviated, and the 
areas both of the House and gallery considerably enlarged. 



Extracts from the Memorial of Charles Bulfinch to the House of Representatives. 

Referred to the Committee on the Public Buildings, January 25, 1830. 

Upon Congress being reinstated at the Capitol, in 1820, it was found that a difficulty 
existed both in speaking and hearing, in the Representatives' Hall ; this was at first imputed 
to the resonannces and echoes occasioned by the unfurnished state of the Hall, and to the 
freshness and dampness of the new work. To remedy this defect, draperies were ordered 
to be suspended in front of the galleries, and between the columns of the Prostyle of the 
Logia : and carpets were spread in the galleries. These measures produced some effect in 
lessening the reverberations, but did not entirely remedy the inconveniencies complained of. 
In the Session of 1821, a large Committee, of 24 Members, was raised, to " inquire into the 
practicability of making such alterations in the present structure of the Hall of the House 
of Representatives as shall better adapt it to the purposes of a deliberative assembly." This 
Committee attended to the subject fully, and consulted the Architect (and such scientific 
persons whose opinions could be readily obtained) when several very contradictory theories 
and projects were suggested. The Architect had the honor of presenting the following 
Report : 

The plan of the Hall under consideration was chosen by the distinguished Artist who 
commenced the restoration of the Capitol, from the most approved remains of Antiquity ; it 
was taken, apparently, from the designs of the Grecian and Roman Theatres, traces of 
which are still extant ; and no form could be devised better adapted to such buildings ; the 
whole audience being arranged in concentric semi-circular rows, and facing the Proscenium 
or place of exhibition, vi^here all that was spoken was delivered from the stage or space in 
front of the semi-circle. This form has also been adopted of late in the legislative halls at 
Paris ; but it is not found altogether convenient for a deliberative assembly, where the 
speakers are seated indiscriminately, and frequently with a large portion of the members in 
their rear ; in consequence of which, it has become necessary there, to select particular spots 
for desks or tribunes, as stations for those who wish to address the assembly. If such a 
measure could be adopted here, it would in a great degree remove the present complaint ; as 
it is found, when religious services are performed, that the voice of the preacher is well 
heard in every part of the hall, assisted as he is by the silence which the solemnity of 
worship enjoins, but which is too much interrupted on other occasions. 

Several suggestions have been made for the improvement of the Hall : ist, To raise the 
floor. 2d, To contract the space by a partition of glass, in place of the present bar. 3d, To 
form a level ceiling at the foot of the dome, resting on the stone entablatures, over the 
columns. 

I cannot think that any great advantage could be derived from raising the floor, because 
it could not be done, more than three feet, without disfiguring the columns and destroying 
all the beauty of their proportions ; and the chief difficulty of hearing is occasioned by the 
reverberation and confusion of sounds, from the lofty and smooth ceiling, which would not 
be affected by this mode of alteration. 

The second proposal, to reduce the space by a glass partition, is also objectionable, as, 



Appendix 277 



in my opinion, it would produce no effect, unless carried very high to shut out the galleries ; 
which the habits of our country have made indispensable ; and this mode would not remove 
the difficulty of the dome. 

The third proposal, of a flat ceiling, affords a prospect of greater advantage than any 
other. It would reduce the absolute height of the room in the centre, upwards of twenty 
feet, in which space much of the voice is lost ; and would check, in a great measure, and 
perhaps wholly, the reverberation and echo complained of. Although it would be a subject 
of much regret, that the beauty of the form and decoration of the dome should be obscured, 
yet these considerations must yield to the convenience of the Legislative body. To impair 
the appearance of the room as little as possible, I propose that this ceiling be made of glass, 
and present a drawing, in which its form and construction are shown ; the panes to be made 
as large as convenient, and the principal ribs to be gilded. This ceiling would be preferable 
to one of wood or plaster, because, in that case, it would hide entirely the present dome, 
excepting the opening of the sky-light, which must be retained, but which would lose much of 
its usefulness from the angle in which the light would be received, and which would hardly 
reach the outer rows of the circle. 

I submit an estimate of the expense of a glass ceiling, amounting to five thousand 
dollars. If this plan is adopted by the honorable House of Representatives, the work could 
be executed- in the recess. 

Experience, I think, has proved, that the objections to the present Hall are not so for- 
cible as they were last season, but that the members are better heard, as they become accus- 
tomed to the room, and to the pitch of voice required ; yet, if it should be considered so 
inconvenient that the necessity of improving it should be thought indispensable, and would 
justify the expense, I would recommend that the glass ceiling be built, and a trial made of 
its utility at the next session. 

Respectfully presented by 

Charles Bulfinch. 

No decisive measures were taken in consequence of this examination and report, and 
the evil still being complained of, the Committee on Public Buildings was again directed, at 
the following session, to consider the subject anew, when the architect presented the follow- 
ing report to the Chairman of the Committee : 

Every work on Natural Philosophy, in general, contains observations on acoustics, and 
endeavors to explain the principles of musical instruments, the vibrations of strings, and the 
nature and cause of echoes ; but these principles have seldom been applied for useful and 
practical purposes, to the construction of the interior of large rooms for deliberative assem- 
blies. Places of public worship and theatres have received a greater share of attention, and 
the result of experience on such apartments, has been to avoid lofty domes, and arched 
ceilings of great elevation. The manner in which sound operates on the air, has been the 
subject of much inquiry ; the theory generally adopted, supposes that sound is projected in 
direct lines, and that it is governed by the same principles as rays of light ; and that it is 
reflected from the substances which it encounters, in angles, equal to the angles of incidence. 
Another theory supposes that sound is propagated by an undulatory motion of the air, and 
that resonnances and echoes are produced by the sound being conducted along the surface 
of intervening walls or other bodies. 

The most judicious and practical writer on this subject that I have had the opportunity 
to consult, is Saunders, on the construction of Theatres. I beg permission to quote from 
him a few observations. " The supposition of sound being reflected on the same principles 
as light, has been very generally admitted, and in order to support this theory, it is asserted 
that sound is propagated in direct rays. Accordingly, Kircher, and most of those who 
follow him, after explaining the progress of sound to be undulative, go on comparing its 
properties with those of light ; which is clearly refuted by Sir Isaac Newton, who says, ' a 
pressure on a fluid medium cannot be propagated in right lines, but will be always inflecting 
and diffusing itself every way, beyond any obstacle that may be presented to it. Sounds are 
propagated with equal ease, through crooked tubes, and through straight lines ; but light 
was never known to move in any curve, nor to inflect itself.' The French Encyclopedists, 
who adopt the theory of the reflection of sound, are obliged to quality it by acknowledging 



278 Appendix 



that the theon' is still vague and uncertain, and that the comparison of the laws of the reflec- 
tion of sound with that of light, may be true to a certain point, but it is not without restric- 
tions, because sound is propagated in ever\- direction, and light in right lines only." 

Mr. Saunders, after a course of experiments, comes to this conclusion, that sound is 
affected by ^-ibration among the particles of air, and moves in a circular undulating form. 
That echo is produced by conduction, and not by reflection, as heretofore imagined. It 
depends on the conductor, and the nature and form of the substance it meets with. He 
asserts that, after a smooth surface of water, stone is the most powerful conducter of sound ; 
experience proves that smooth walls of plaster are next in order, then surfaces of woods, and 
lastly, hangings of tapestry or woollen cloth. 

These obser^'ations and results are important, when applied to the Hall of the House of 
Representatives. The difficult}^ of hearing and speaking arises, in the first place, from the 
great size of the room ; and is an e\-il which must always be apprehended in any room con- 
structed to afford such ample conveniences for so numerous a body, unless the speakers will 
consent to mount a tribune, situated in the most favorable position : and in the second place, 
from the resonnances or echoes, occasioned by the dome of 60 feet elevation from the floor. 
If these echoes could be checked, the difficulty of speaking and hearing would be, in a great 
measure, removed. For this purpose, I ventured to propose, in 1S21, a horizontal ceiling of 
glass ; but this is liable to objections, from the great difficulty of keeping so large a surface 
clean, and from the bad effect to be apprehended on the air of the room, from reducing it 
so much in its dimensions. 

Private individuals have no motive for making experiments on the principles of the 
expansion of sound, and companies of proprietors of buildings are deterred from doing it, 
by the uncertainty" of the effect, and by the expense. An opportunity- is at present offered 
to Congress, to authorize some experiments during the recess, which may be of good con- 
sequences, and would, at least, extend a knowledge of the true principles which govern the 
operations of sound. ^Yith this \-iew, I take the liberty to mention the following : 

The Grecian and Roman Theatres were constructed without roofs, and were entirely 
open above ; but it was usual to stretch a covering of sail cloth over the circular seats, to 
protect the audience from the inclemency of the weather. I would take a hint from this 
practice, and propose, that cords should be strained, at the springing of the dome, to support 
a ceiling of light woollen cloth or flannel, projecting ten feet from the columns, within the 
semicircle. If the theory' of conduction of sound be correct, this horizontal projection will 
prevent it reaching the dome, to occasion the echoes complained of. The experiment might 
be tried at moderate expense, and, if found effectual, the ceiling might be finished after- 
wards, in a more permanent manner. 

Respectfully submitted 

Charles Bulfixch. 
March iitk, 1822. 



In consequence of this last suggestion, orders were given to stretch a covering of 
canvass over the whole Hall ; which was done, as speedily as possible, at the height of 
the blocking course above the columns. This ceiling, composed of an unelastic substance, 
checked the reverberation but too fully ; it not only put a stop to the echoes, but seemed to 
absorb the volume of sound; and rendering the Hall dark, by obstructing the sky light, it 
was removed after a few days. 

Another experiment was tried, at a following session, of reducing the dimensions of the 
Hall, by framing a wooden partition between the columns of the prostyle ; but no good 
effects were experienced from this measure, to counterbalance the inconvenience from the 
loss of space and light, and the partition was removed after one week's trial. 

No other attempt was made to remedy the evil complained of, until May ig, 1826 ; 
when the House resolved, " That the Clerk of this House be authorized to employ William 
Strickland, of Philadelphia, to act in conjunction with the architect now employed in 
completing the Capitol, in devising a plan for impro\-ing the Hall, so far as to render it 
better suited to the purposes of a deliberative assembly : That the Secretar}' of State, the 
Secretary of War, and the Attorney General, be requested to act as a Board of Inspection, 
on the aforesaid contemplated improvement, during the recess of Congress; and that, if the 
said architects can devise any plan for accomplishing the object, that shall receive the 



Appendix 279 

sanction of the Board aforesaid, they be authorized to execute the same, under the direction 
of the said Board. Resolved, That the expense be defrayed out of the contingent fund." 

In pursuance of this resolution, Mr. Strickland was invited to make the examination 
desired, and attended to this service in the Summer of 1826, after which the following state- 
ments were presented to the House in February, 1827. 

* * * * 

The undersigned, constituting the Board of Inspection appointed by the said resolution, 
have the honor to report: That, shortly after the termination of the last session of Cono-ress, 
the Clerk of the House communicated to Mr. William Strickland the substance of the reso- 
lution, and requested his attendance at Washington, to co-operate in the accomplishment 
of its object: that it was not convenient to Mr. Strickland to attend until some time in July, 
when, in the absence of the undersigned and the Clerk, he visited the city, and examined 
the Hall of the House, in company with Mr. Bulfinch: That the Clerk, on the 28th August 
last, addressed a letter to Mr. Strickland, (of which a copy accompanies the report, marked 
A,) to which he received an answer, under date of the 12th September last, of which the 
paper marked B, is a copy : That the undersigned being desirous to be present in the Hall 
with Messrs. Strickland and Bulfinch, when they examined it, requested the Clerk to ask 
the attendance of the former again at Washington, and accordingly, he came here in 
October last, as early as he could consistently with other engagements : That the under- 
signed were present when those gentlemen inspected the Hall, and discussed various plans 
of improvement which were suggested: that Mr. Strickland's opinion as to the most effectual 
improvement will be seen in his report to the Board, under date the 31st of October last, 
hereto annexed, marked C, and that of Mr. Bulfinch in his report, under date the ist 
November last, also hereto annexed, marked D : That, from the perusal of those reports it 
will appear that both the architects concur in opinion, that the only effectual remedies of the 
defects complained of in the Hall, are, ist, to suspend a flat ceiHng of lath and plaster over 
the whole arena of the Hall within the colums, and upon a level with the stone cornice or 
springing line of the same; or, 2dly, To break up the existing smooth surface of the dome, 
by deeply sunk caissons, in the manner of the ceiling of the Senate Chamber and the 
Rotundo. Both the architects agree that the first mentioned plan would materially impair 
the symmetry and proportions of the Hall, and Mr. Bulfinch thinks it might injuriously 
diminish the cubic volume of air in the Hall. 

That it became altogether unnecessary for the undersigned to give their sanction to 
either of the two suggested plans, because the vacation between the last and the present ses- 
sion of the House was too short to admit of the execution of either, so as to have the Hall 
prepared in time for the accommodation of the House : that the long vacation which will 
ensue, after the termination of the present session of Congress, will be sufficient to allow of 
the execution of either of them to which the House may think proper to give its sanction. 

That the undersigned suggested to the architects the propriety of testing the efficacy of 
the suspended ceiling, by stretching a covering of silk over the space which it was intended 
to occupy; but it was stated that the absorbent qualities of that, or of any cloth, are such as 
would prevent its being a fair experiment ; and that it was also mentioned, that, in the year 
1S14, such a test, (though not with silken cloth) was appHed, and that the inconveniences 
which it occasioned induced the House quickly to direct its removal. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 



Washington, Zth Febrtiary, 1827. 



H. Clay, 
James Barbour, 
W^M. Wirt. 



A. 

Washington, 28^/; August, 1826. 
Wm. Strickland Esq. 

Philadelphia. 
Sir : I was disappointed in not finding you in Washington when I arrived, on the 3d 
July, having heard, in Carlisle, of your intended visit to Washington. From the conversation 
I have had with Mr. Bulfinch, I am led to believe, that you think that no alteration can be 



28o Appendix 



made in the Hall, which would be beneficial, except a flat ceiling of plaster. I write now, to 
ascertain whether you have made up your mind definitively; or, if you could not come down 
again to Washington, immediately after the 6th September, as Mr. Clay will then be at 
home. I wish you, very much, to see the Committee, as several expedients have been 
suggested; such as a flat, plastered ceiling; a glass ceiling; a glass cover, at the height of 
say thirty feet, supported by brass pillars, and rather concave, (taking down the galleries, 
and having the auditory on a level with the Hall,) raising the floor to the level of the walk 
behind the speaker's chair, making it either level, or rising, in the usual form, from front to 
rear. 

Of all these different suggestions, I am certain, the Committee would be pleased to 
have your opinion, and would rather converse and explain, than write. 

Please to inform me how soon you could come down. 

Yours, most respectfully, 

M. St. Clair Clarke, 

Clerk Ho. of Reps. U. S. 



B. 



Philadelphia, Sept. \ith, 1826. 



Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Esq. 

Washington. 

Sir: It will be out of my power to visit Washington during the present month. When 
I examined the Hall of Representatives, in July last, I came to the conclusion, that no 
alteration could be effectively made to correct the reverberation of the voice in that room, 
except by the removal of the dome. This may be properly done, by the construction of a 
flat ceiling, of lath and plaster, over the whole area, upon a level with the cornice of the 
room. For the sake of light, the glass lantern should be continued to the ceiling, and be 
made to occupy a much larger diameter than it now does. I am aware, however, that this 
plan would affect the proportions of the room; but these may be retained, in a great degree, 
by any skilful artist, who could, by painting the flat ceiling, represent a dome, nearly as 
perfect as the real one. 

The expedients you mention, as having been suggested, are all objectionable, and would 
have but a very partial effect, in removing the great cause of the resonjiance. The glass 
cover would be difticult and expensive to construct; and, when done, would form a very un- 
sightly object: To the eye, the glass and its supports would distort the compartments of the 
dome, and produce a very disagreeable effect. In a few years it would become opake, and 
completely coated with dust. 

To take down the galleries, and have the auditory on a level with the floor of the Hall, 
would have the effect of increasing the difficulty of hearing, by opening a greater space 
through which the voice would be spent and broken, by the intervention of the semicircular 
screen of columns, which support the dome. 

To raise the floor to the level of the logia behind the Speaker's chair, would be, in 
fact, simply equivalent to lowering the ceiling a few feet, which would only serve to make 
the echo, or return of the voice, more sudden upon the speaker or hearer. While the great 
cause of the reverberation exists, viz: the dome, nothing short of its removal can be relied 
on, as a corrective to the present difficulty of speaking and being heard. 

Yours, very respectfully, 

William Strickland, 

Architect and Engineer. 

C. 

The Hon. Henry Clay, 

Chairman of the Committee to whom was referred 

the alteratio7i of the Hall of Representatives. 
Sir : Without attempting to trouble you with a general application of the laws or doc- 
trines of sound to the various forms of rooms, or particularly to the one under consideration, 
I will simply state my opinion of the cause of echo in the Hall, to be principally owing to 



Appendix 



281 



the reflection of the voice from so large a portion of unbroken spherical surface contained 
in the ceiling of the dome. The effect has been invariably observed in all circular rooms 
having vaulted ceilings; and were the side -walls of the Hall formed with a plaint circular 
surface, like the ceiling, and not intercepted by the present screen of cohiinns, the reverbera- 
tion would be proporiionably increased. 

The remedy which, in my opinion, can be successfully resorted to in this instance, is, 
to break up the plain surface of the dome by the introduction of numerous deeply sunken 
pannels bound by raised stiles or margins. A practical illustration of the efficacy of this 
method, in preventing the echo of sounds, may be witnessed at any time in the Senate 
Chamber, a room which nearly corresponds in plan with the Hall of Representatives, except 
in \h^ painted pannels of the dome, which in that of the Senate Chamber are real and pro- 
fuse. 

One other, and a more effectual plan, may be had by the suspension of a flat ceilmg 
of lath and plaster over the whole arena of the Hall within the columns, and upon a level 
with the stone cornice, or springing hue of the dome ; but I hesitate in recommending its 
adoption, convinced as I am that the construction of a level ceiling would materially injure 
the symmetry and proportions of the room, and that no single item of supportable incon- 
venience should be redressed in this manner, by the expense of so much architectural 
harmony and beauty. 

I would, however, beg leave, Sir, to suggest to you the propriety of trying the effect of 
opening the dome by a series of large pannels, with small, but proportionably raised margins 
or stiles, as the only resource left to render the room suitable for the purposes of legislation, 
without injury to its well proportioned features. 

Very respectfully submitted by your obedient servant, 

William Strickland. 

Washington, October 31, 1826. 

D. 

To the Honorable the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and Attorney General : 

The subscriber, present Architect of the Capitol of the United States, respectfully 
presents the following report : . , , 

Mr. Strickland visited the city on the ist of July last, when, in company with the 
subscriber, he examined the plan and construction of the Hall, when the difficulties that 
had been complained of were pointed out to him. Not being able to remain in the city 
longer than one day at that time, Mr. Strickland promised to take the subject into consid- 
eration, and to communicate the result, which he did in his letter of September the 12th. He 
also, on a repetition of the invitation, again visited the city on the 2ist October. At this 
time, the subscriber laid before Mr. Strickland the original plans and sections of the Hall, 
with'copies of all the investigations of the various committees who, in different years, had 
been appointed to consider the subject, and the several reports of the Architect made to 
such committees, containing suggestions of alterations, and reasonings thereon; also various 
papers from other scientific men, whom the committees had been able to consult. Mr. 
Strickland remained several days, and examined all these papers fully,* and formeda report 
of his opinion, as given in his' letter addressed to the Secretary of State. In this report 
Mr. Strickland agrees with the report of the Architect, made in 1822, that the onlyeffectual 
remedy against the reverberation of sounds would be a flat ceiling ; he expresses his prefer- 
ence that it should be made solid and permanent, with painted or stucco ornaments ; but, 
as such a ceihng would reduce, perhaps injuriously, the cubic volume of air m the room, 
and impair the beauty of its form and proportion, he suggests the breaking of the present 
smooth painted surface of the dome into deeplv sunk caissons, in the manner of the ceiling 
of the Senate Chamber and of the Rotundo. In addition to this report, it was agreed that 
it would be of advantage to fill sohdly under the floor of the circular space outside of the 
bar of the Hall. . ^ 

The proposals fully agree with the opinion of the Architect, as expressed m tormer 
reports. Any thing would be of use that would check the tendency of th e smooth surface 

* Particularly the communication of Mr. Mills, with his reasoning on the subject, and diagrams of 
proposed alterations. 



282 Appendix 

of the dome to return sounds, either by reflecting or conducting them too suddenly, and 
thereby prevent the present resonnances. In this way a beneficial effect may be expected 
from sinking deep coffers or caissons ; but it is much to be feared that it would not be so 
material an assistance as to afford a complete remedy of the difficulty of hearing and 
speaking. 

Respectfull}' presented, by your obedient servant, 

Charles Bulfinch. 
Washington, Nov. i, 1826. 

This report of Mr. Strickland, seemed to put the subject at rest : for no further notice 
was taken of it, until late in the long session of 1828; when, from the warmth of the season, 
complaints were made of the want of ventilation in the Hall, and this, with the former 
difficulty of hearing, caused a short debate; but no order was taken thereon. The architect, 
however, conceiving it to be his duty to meet every suggestion for the improvement of the 
building under his care, applied himself, in the recess, to prepare drawings, which he laid 
before the Committee, in 1829; but they did not think proper to make any report thereon 
to the House. 

These drawings make part of the present communication. By this design, it is pro- 
posed to bring the galleries down nearly to the floor of the Hall, of the extent of four 
intercolumniations on the East and West; by which means, two large windows on each side 
would be opened to view, and would afford a more equal diffusion of light, and secure com- 
plete ventilation. Should this plan be adopted, the objection to removing the dome would 
lose its force, on the score of reducing the cubic volume of air, and a flat ceiling might be 
substituted. I present two drawings of ceilings, one of glass, and another composed of 
glass and plaster ; should either of them be approved by the Committee, estimates can be 
furnished of the expense, previous to presenting the report to the House. The whole 
alteration of both the galleries and ceiling, might be made during the recess of Congress. 



Report of the Select Committee by Mr. Jarvis to the House, June 30, 1832. 

That they have had the subject under consideration, and have agreed to recommend the 
following alterations : 

ist. The floor to be raised to the level of the foot of the columns which surround the 
Hall. 

2d. The chair of the Speaker to be placed near where the principal entrance now is, 
and the seats of the members to be turned so as to preserve their relative position to the 
chair. 

3d. A circular wall to be built back of the third seat in the gallery. 

The committee offer, as a part of their report, a communication to the Committee on 
Public Buildings, from Robert Mills, an ingenious architect now in this city ; and refer to it 
for the reasons of the alterations recommended, as well as for an explanation of the details 
of these and of other minor alterations therein proposed ; and, for the purpose of carrying 
the same into effect, they offer the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the Commissioner on Public Buildings cause the Hall of Representa- 
tives to be altered during the recess of Congress, according to the plan of Robert Mills here- 
with submitted, and under the superintendence of said Mills ; and that the expense be paid 
out of the contingent fund of the House. 

City of Washington, February \, 1832. 

Genihmeit : The present plan of the Hall is manifestly defective as a hearing and 
speaking room for forensic or popular debate. The defect was discovered at an early day 
after its occupancy, and, with a view to remedying it, the draperies suspended between the 
columns (which now decorate the room) were introduced. These curtains had some effect 
in lessening the reverberations of sound, but the inconvenience complained of still existed. 

In the session of 1 821, so important was the subject considered, that a committee of 24 
members was appointed to " inquire into the practicability of making such alterations in 
the present structure of the Hall of the House of Representatives as shall better adapt it to 



Appendix 283 

the purposes of a deliberative assembly." The result of the investigation of this committee 
is contained in a report submitted by the architect of the Capitol, Mr. Bulfinch, who recom- 
mended the suspension of a glass ceiling at the foot of the dome ; but nothing was done 
towards testing the merits of this plan ; and the evil still being complained of at the follow- 
ing session, the Committee on the Public Buildings was instructed to investigate the subject 
anew, when the architect again reported his views ; and, at his suggestion, a cloth covering 
was stretched across the Hall at the foot of the dome. The effect of this covering was not 
only to check completely the reflections or echoes from the ceiling, but to darken the Hall 
so seriously as to induce its immediate removal. 

Another experiment was tried at the following session, which went to reduce the dimen- 
sions of the Hall. A partition was made between the columns, back of the Speaker's chair, 
so as to exclude the prostyle, but no good effect was experienced from this measure, " and 
the partition was removed after a week's trial." 

In 1826, the subject of grievance in the Hall was renewed, and " the Secretaries of 
State and IFar, and Attorney General" were requested to act as a board of inspection on 
the contemplated improvement during the recess of Congress ; and should any plan be 
approved, that the same should be carried into execution. A professional gentleman of 
Philadelphia (Mr. Strickland,) was called in to the aid of the architect of the Capitol, to 
devise plans of improvement, who, after a consultation, recommended " tlie suspension of a 
flat ceiling of lath and plaster over the whole area of the Hall, within the cohtmns, and 
upon a level with the stone cornice." Nothing, however, was done towards carrying this plan 
into execution, and it was not until 1828 that the subject was again agitated ; but no satis- 
factory solution of the difficulty in question being given to warrant the committee to recom- 
mend the construction of a flat ceiling, and thereby destroy the beauty of the Hall, no report 
was made to the House. 

Passing through Washington in 1821, I was requested by the architect of the Capitol, 
and subsequently (1S27) by the Secretary of State, to give an opinion on the causes of the 
difficulty of hearing in the Hall, and the means of remedying the defect. On these requisi- 
tions, I submitted two papers on the subject to these gentlemen, wherein was discussed the 
theory of acoustics, (as regards the laws of sound) and the application of its principles to 
the peculiar circumstances of the Hall of Representatives : explanatory diagrams accom- 
panied these papers, showing the design of the room, and the practical effect of two modifi- 
cations of plan. These papers were referred to by the architect of the Capitol in his last 
report ; but, laying down a theory totally at variance with that he had assumed as the correct 
one, they were never brought forward. 

On a visit which I made the Seat of Government in 1830, I took the Hberty of calling 
the attention of the House to the substance of my communication to the Secretary of State 
in 1827, which was referred to a committee ; who, after investigating the plan submitted, 
made a favorable report to the House. With a view, in part, to test the correctness of the 
principle upon which the proposed improvements were based, a temporary partition was 
directed to be^constructed in the gallery, so as to form an unbroken line of wall behind the 
columns and parallel therewith. A very sensible difference, both in hearing and speaking, 
was experienced by the members and audience from the execution of this part of the plan, 
though of a temporary character. Another essential part of the design could not be tested 
during the sitting of the House, namely, raising the floor, but the committee was satisfied 
that it would be effective in its operations to answer the object in question. The House not 
making any appropriation for carrying the plan reported by the committee into execution, 
the partition which had been put up, was taken down in the recess, and the Hall restored to 
its original state as it now stands. This circumstance will enable those who were members 
of the House in the last Congress to judge of the difference in effect between the two modi- 
fications of plan. 

Every day's experience satisfies me of the correctness of that theory I have advocated 
associated with the conveyance of sound, and upon which I have based all my plans of 
rooms intended for the accommodation of deliberative bodies. The opportunities which I 
have had of testing the principles of this theory by actual practice, in the construction of 
several rooms of large dimensions, (one of which is greater in area than the Hall of Repre- 
sentatives,) enables me to speak with confidence on this subject ; and I therefore do not 
hesitate in saying that it is practicable to give to the present ff all all the advantages in hear- 
ing and speaking of which it is susceptible. 



284 Appendix 

The plan of the Hall of Representatives was adopted as the best form of room to answer 
the demands of a deliberative assembly. This form was selected by the French Government 
for its Chamber of Deputies on the recommendation of the most eminent architects of France. 
The theatres both of Greece and Rome were all on the semi-circular plan ; and, in the con- 
struction of our modern theatres, the same form is adopted. In the execution of the plan of 
the Hall of Representatives some radical errors were committed, which have almost defeated 
the object of its design. The first error was the breaking of the circular line of -wall by 
running the colonnade above, and in addition to this, breaking the circular line of wall 
back of these columns into irregular surfaces. The second error consisted in sinking the 
floor or raising the dome beyond their proper relative position to each other. l~he third error 
lies in the location of the Speaker s chair, and, consequently, the seats of the members. 

To remedy the first error, I have proposed to constriict a zvall behind the third seat in 
the galleries, so as to keep up the circular line complete and parallel to that of the columns. 

By reference to my letter, printed by order of the House in 1830, accompanied by dia- 
grams of explanation, the reasons upon which this part of the plan was based will be seen. 
Sound being subject to the same general laws which govern light, viz. radiating from a 
centre every way from its original source, and subject to reflection and refraction, it fol- 
lows, that, in the construction of a room for speaking or hearing to the best advantage, 
the form should be such as to give the greatest number of consonant echoes, or, in other 
words, that as few of the rays of sound (or reflections of the voice) should cross each other 
as practicable. Now the circular form is that best adapted to produce the fewest dissonant 
echoes, and to give the most distinct sound of what is spoken. 

The second error, which consists in the too great loftiness of the room, I have proposed 
to remedy by raising the floor to the general level of that of the prostyle behind the Speaker's 
chair, or as high as would be consistent with propriety, having reference to the columns 
encompassing the Hall. 

It is a fundamental principle in acoustics, that, where a room to speak in (to be dis- 
tinctly heard) is covered with a domical or cylindrical ceiling, ■Cn^ point describing the curve 
line of the same must be below the ear of the speaker or hearer ; and if this point is below 
the floor, the ear will be less sensible of the return of the voice. If this rule is not attended 
to, and the point describing the curve is above the ear of the speaker, the ring of echoes or 
reflected sounds from this ceiling, will cross each other above the ear, and produce a sensible 
echo. That the point describing the dome of the Hall is above the floor, is proved by stand- 
ing in the axis and centre of the plan of the room, (just in front of the clerk's desk) and 
stamping the foot or clapping the hands : for a distinct repetition of the original sound will 
be heard. 

The Rotunda of the Capitol exhibits a striking example of the truth of this position. 
Any attempt to speak in this room, results in the utter confusion of the voice, simply because 
the point which describes the dome is elevated so high, (being on the top of the great cor- 
nice, that the rays of sound striking the dome are reflected, and (as soon as they pass the 
cornice level) cross each other, and then are subject again to reflection from the walls,^ so 
that by the time they reach the ear, the original sound is broken and scattered in various 
directions, striking the ear at sensible moments of time. 

Could we elevate ourselves so as to stand on a level with the cornice or spring of the 
dome, and there speak, the voice would be found distinct, strong, and clear. At this level, 
were a light enclosure constructed, this dome would be one of the most perfect whispering 
galleries in the world, equal to that of St. Paul's, London, famed in the annals of travellers. 
It is to be regretted that we should be deprived of witnessing so great a curiosity as this 
splendid expanse of dome presents, and which is so well calculated to develop the theory of 
sound, when it is in our power to enjoy it by the construction of a simple balustrading, or 
enclosed walk, around the circle on the top of the great cornice, and opening a communica- 
tion with it through one of the stair-ways above : — permit me to call the attention of the 
committee to this interesting subject. 

I come now to the third fundamental error in the plan of the Hall, namely, the locatioti 
of the Speaker s chair, and consequently those of the members. 

From the facts and reasonings previously stated and referred to, it will readily be seen, 
by examining the plan, that the Speaker's chair is exactly in the reversed position to where it 
ought to stand. If it is true that a circular surface of wall is better adapted for the trans- 
mission of sound than the straight surface, which cannot be doubted, except we will not 



Appendix 285 

receive the testimony of ancient and modern practice in the construction of rooms, expressly 
designed for public speaking, for these invariably are found to assume the circular form ; 
therefore, if this circular line is broken in any way, a proportionate defect arises in the 
capacity of the room to support the voice and convey it distinctly to the ear ; and it also 
follows, that, in speaking, the direction of the voice should be Unuards the circular surface, 
and not the straight. If we refer to the position of the speakers in theatres, we will find 
that they all speak to the circle ; and if we examine the Legislative Hall of France, (which 
we have said was of a similar form to our Hall,) we will find that the orator speaks to the 
circle, the tribune from whence he speaks being located expressly to meet this necessity. The 
evidence of the fact that the speakers should speak to the circle, is to be found in our own 
Hall, for it is only when they do this that the voice is comparatively distinctly heard ; and it 
is well known that little or no difficulty occurs in hearing what is said from the chair, or 
from the clerk's desk. These facts are sufficient to satisfy us of the propriety and advantage 
of reversing the present arrangement of the Speaker's chair and member's seat, so that the 
latter should front the circle. Independent of the benefit which would result to hearer and 
speaker by doing this, there would be other advantages gained, namely : getting rid of the 
disagreealDle effect of the light shining into the eyes, and almost blinding the vision. Every 
one is sensible of this on entering the Hall, and must be satisfied that it is an evil. Again : 
The members will front the audience, which certainly is most agreeable to those who address 
the Chair : this House being the popular branch of the Legislature, the people would wish 
to hear what is said by their representatives. 

The different experiments which have been made at different times to rectify the evils 
complained of in the Hall, go to prove the correctness of the principles herein advocated on 
the conveyance of sound, ist. The introduction of draperies between the columns tended to 
shut out, in a great degree, the return of the voice from the walls behind, which was favor- 
able, as the echoes from the surfaces are mostly what are termed dissonant, or reaching the 
ear at different periods of time. These curtains being of an unelastic substance, destroyed 
or deadened the sound. 

Though this plan effected a partial remedy of the evil complained of, it was at a 
sacrifice of- so much surface of wall, which, under a different form, would have tended to 
increase the strength and distinct utterance of the voice. 2d. The spreading of the ca7ivass 
cloth over the whole Hall, so as to shut off the reflections of the voice from the dome, went 
to prove the importance of this form of ceiling to hearer and speaker ; for as long as this 
cloth canopy existed, it so completely (as in the case of the draperies) absorbed the sound 
of the voice, that it could scarcely be heard ; and, further, it went to prove that were 2i flat 
ceiling to take its place, the evil complained of, instead of being remedied, would be increased. 
To say nothing of the serious injury in point of beauty, which the Hall would sustain were 
a flat ceiling to supercede the present domical one, there would be a positive reduction in the 
powers of this ceiling to sustain the voice, for this simple reason, that, in the place of a 
ring of consojiani echoes which the present ceiling can be made capable of giving, there 
would be but one reflected from the flat ceiling, and, consequently, the voice would lose its 
support in the ratio of the difference in the number of consonant echoes. It has been well, 
therefore, that the Hall has escaped being disfigured by such an useless canopy. The 
members, when in their seats, have, no doubt, sometimes been startled by the sudden sound 
of a voice as from one close by, and been astonished when they looked for the speaker to find 
him at the opposite end of the room. The secret of this phenomenon lies in the domical 
ceiling, and the mathematician would be able to trace the person speaking (among several 
speakers) by calling to mind that principle in acoustics which determines the angle of 
incidence to be equal to the angle of reflection. Now, this fact goes to confirm the truth of 
the doctrine we have endeavored to establish, namely, that sound is transmitted like light in 
straight lines, and not in undidatory lines. In further proof of this, certain points might 
be selected for both speaker and hearer in the Hall, where the whole force oi the speaker's 
voice would fall on the ear of the hearer ; and these points could be calculated with mathe- 
matical precision. Let any member, whilst another is addressing the House, walk along the 
inner side of the prostyle just behind the columns, and he will reach a point in that line 
where his ear will be arrested by a powerful impulse of the speaker's voice. Now, let him 
draw a line so as to strike the circular surface of the dome or wall at any point, and observe 
the angle, and then draw another line from thence to the speaker, and he will find that the 
two angles (the angle of incidence and reflection) will be equal. 



286 Appendix 

The third experiment, which filled up the space between the columns of the prostyle, 
went to prove that not even reducing the space of the room, and giving a close flat surface 
to this portion of it, benefitted the hearing any. Sound travels with great rapidity, (1,142 
feet in a second of time,) and it is not always the smallest rooms that are the best to 
hear and speak in. It must be recollected that it is not the size but the form of the room 
that constitutes it a good or bad speaking and hearing room. I could construct a room which 
should hold five or ten thousand persons, in which the voice in a common tone, would be dis- 
tinctly heard at the most distant points in it. I have already had a room built which has held 
four thousand persons, where ever}^ word of the speaker was as well heard at the extreme 
distance as immediately near. I could take the Rotunda, which is now a perfect Babel of 
sounds, and make it as perfect a speaking room as there is in the world. 

I shall now close by giving a brief description of the drawings herewith submitted. 

Plan No. I exhibits the Hall aS it noio is, with the seats and desks of the members, and 
the Speaker's chair, in the position they now hold. 

Plan No. 2 exhibits the Hall as proposed to be arranged, with a view to realize the bene- 
fits promised thereby, not only increasing the facilities of hearing and speaking, but adding 
to the comfortable accommodation of the House, providing ample space for any increase of 
members, even to the number 300, and retaining all the desks with the seats. 

Associated with this plan, it is proposed, ist, to make a change in the space iinder 
the galleries, taking in one portion of this space on each side of the Hall, for the tise of the 
House, as private lobbies or conference rooms. Opening the space between the columns 
into these rooms, so as to get the benefit of the large windows here, and thus adding much 
to the comfort of the Plall both in respect to light and air. 

It will be seen that, by a new arrangement of the remaining space, and making a stair 
way up into the angular spaces above, more useful accommodations will be afforded than 
are now had. 

2d. For the better lighting of the Hall, it is proposed to open all the attic windows to 
the sotUh under the prostyle, (now closed up). 

3d. Some accommodations for lady visitors have been desired in galleries appropriated 
for their use, separated from the common galleries, and having private or distinct entrances 
to the same. This plan contemplates making such a provision, by dividing off a portion at 
each end of the present galleries, and either using the stair ways that now lead to these 
galleries, at the south end of the building, or constructing new stair-ways upon a more 
enlarged scale, which may be constituted the principal entrances into the Hall. 

The present entrance into the Hall does not comport with the dignity of the room, as 
it is both dark and circuitous. The ample space within the projecting blocks against which 
the galleries terminate, allows two grand stair-cases to be constructed which would be well 
lighted, and, opening into the private lobbies of the House, would be a great convenience 
to the members. 

All which is respectfully submitted by, gentlemen, yours, &c. 

ROBERT MILLS. 

The Hon. the Conitnittee of Public Btiildings. 



Extracts from the Report of Architect Mills to the Committee on Public Buildings, May 
I, 1850, respecting plans for Extensions never executed. Reported to the Senate by 
Mr. Hunter, May 2Sth. 

Mr. L. [Latrobe] was fully justified in selecting the horse-shoe or semicircular form for 
the new hall, from the fact that when the French Chamber of Deputies resolved upon the 
erection of a new hall for debate, they appointed a committee composed of the most celebrated 
architects of France to inquire into the subject, and report upon the best form of a room 
for legislative business; and who after examining the largest rooms in Paris, and the most 
celebrated buildings of antiquity, unanimously recommended the horse-shoe or semicircular 
form, surmounted t)-^ a very fiat dome ; which was accordingly executed, and has given 
every satisfaction. As I have stated before, the hall of the Chamber of Deputies is said to 
be one of the finest speaking and hearing rooms known. But the Chamber of Deputies 
was so plain a room that Mr. L., no doubt, thought from the success of the last hall he 



Appendix 287 



built, (the elliptical,) which was enriched by a splendid colonnade circling the room, that he 
might circle this new hall also with a similar colonnade ; but at the result he must have 
been disappointed, if he ever saw the room after it was occupied by the House — tor Mr. L. 
settled in New Orleans, where he deceased soon after, to the great loss of the profession. 

I have given the elliptical form to the new hall of the House, which is that adopted for 
the hall erected for the first Congress, which sat in Washington in 1800. This room was 
found so favorable for the action of the voice in speaking and hearing, that, when the 
permanent hall (the. first being but a temporary building) was ordered to be erected, Mr. 
Jefferson, who was charged with the selection of the plan, chose the same form for the new 
hall; and it was accordingly erected and finished in thX?, general form. 



ENTOMBMENT AND STATUE OF WASHINGTON. 

On Motion of Mr. Mitchell of Md., the House resolved on February 22, 1830: 

That the following resolutions of the Congress of the United States, unanimously 
adopted on the 23d December, 1799, and the message of President Adams, of the 8th 
January, iSoo,* to Congress, respecting the entombment of the remains of General George 
Washington in this Capitol, be referred to g. select committee, and that the said committee 
be authorized to report by bill or otherwise. 

Mr. Mitchell, as Chairman of this Committee, made a report which said : 

Committee Room, March 2, 1830. 
The committee met, and after mature consideration it was Resolved, That the 
chairman appoint a sub-committee, to consider and report to th-e select committee . 

Sub-committee, Mr. Burges, Mr. Drayton, Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, and Mr. 
Mitchell. 

March 2-jth, 1830. 

The Sub-Committee made to the Select Committee the following report : Committee 
Room of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, 

March 13, 1830. 

The Sub-committee met agreeable to appointment. 

The Committee called on the Commissioner of the Public Buildings to give them 
information respecting the vault heretofore provided for the entombment of General George 
Washington, under the central dome of the Capitol. His report will be found hereunto 
annexed. The committee thereupon, after a free conversation, and a full interchange of 
ideas on this interesting subject, directed Mr. Burges to draw up a report of their delibera- 
tions thereon, to be laid before the whole committee appointed by the House of Representa- 
tives, on the 22d day of February, 1830 ; and thereupon adjourned until the 17th of March 
instant, to meet in this place, for the purpose of examining said report, preparatory to laying 
the same before said whole committee. 

March 17, 1830. 

The Sub-committee met according to adjournment. . 
Mr. Burges submitted the following 

REPORT : 

Although our country itself, and the history of the age in which he lived, are filled with 
testimonials of the eminent services and high character of Washington, yet will it be found 
that the American People have ever cherished the intention of consecrating to him some 
peculiar monumental memorials, to the intent that after times may perceive that the nation 
which was established by his valor and guided by his counsels could never cease to cherish 
his memory and venerate his character. The Continental Congress, 

* These papers are embodied in the report of the Committee. 



Appendix 



Thursday, August 7, 1783. 

On motion of Mr. A. Lee, seconded by Mr. Bland, 

Resolved, {tmanimously, ten States being present,) That an equestrian statue of General 
Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established. 

On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. A. Lee, Mr. Ellsworth, and Mr. Mif- 
flin, appointed to prepare a plan of an equestrian statue of the Commander-in-chief, 

Resolved, That the statue be of bronze, the General to be represented in a Roman 
dress, holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled with a laurel wreath. 
The statue to be supported by a marble pedestal, on which are to be represented, in basso 
relievo, the following principal events of the war, in which General Washington commanded 
in person, viz : the evacuation of Boston ; the capture of the Hessians at Trenton ; the 
battle of Princeton ; the action of Monmouth ; and the surrender of York. On the upper 
part of the front of the pedestal to be engraved as follows : The United States, in Congress 
assembled, ordered this statue to be erected, in the year of our Lord 1783, in honor of 
George Washington, the illustrious Commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States 
of America during the war which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and 
independence. 

Resolved, That a statue conformable to the above plan be executed by the best artist 
in Europe, under the superintendence of the Minister of the United States at the court of 
Versailles ; and that money to defray the expense of the same be furnished from the Treas- 
ury of the United States. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of Congress transmit to the Minister of the United 
States at the Court of Versailles the best resemblance of General Washington that can be 
procured, for the purpose of having the above statue erected ; together with the fittest 
description of the events which are to be the subject of the basso relievo. 

It will not be expected that the committee shall make any inquiry concerning the 
causes which may have prevented carrying these resolutions into effect. While the illus- 
trious object of them lived, and, as a citizen or statesman, was disclosing to the nation and 
the world a character, if possible, more endeared and illustrious than that achieved by him 
as the first captain of the age, it would not have been singular if public opinion had changed, 
and the whole nation should question the appropriateness of consecrating to Washington 
such monumental honors as belong exclusively to the distinguished soldier. 

When that event which finishes the formation of human character arrived, and the 
death of Washington made every dwelling-place in the land a house of mourning, the 
Senators and Representatives of these United States, in Congress assembled, did, in 
accordance with national feehngs, and in honor of the mighty dead, pass the following, 
among other resolutions : 

Monday, December 23, 1799. 

It was resolved. That the House do unanimously agree to the following resolutions, to 
wit : 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled. That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the 
Capitol at the city of Washington ; and that the family of General Washington be requested 
to permit his body to be deposited under it ; and that the monument be so designed as to 
commemorate the great events of his military and political life. 

And be it fur titer resolved. That there be a funeral procession from Congress hall to 
the German Lutheran church, in honor of the memory of General George Washington, on 
Thursday, the 26th instant ; and that an oration be prepared at the request of Congress, to 
be delivered before both Houses on that day ; and that the President of the Senate and 
Speaker of the House of Representatives be desired to request one of the members of Con- 
gress to prepare and deliver the same. 

And be it further resolved. That it be recommended to the people of the United States 
to wear crape on the left arm as mourning for thirty days. 

And be it further resolved. That the President of the United States be requested to 
direct a copy of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring her of the 
profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character, of their condolence 



Appendix 289 



on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment 
of the remains of General George Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution. 

Aiid be it furlher resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to 
issue a proclamation, notifying to the people throughout the United States the recommen- 
dation contained in the third resolution. 

[The foregoing resolutions were sent to the Senate, and received their concurrence the 
same day.] 

On the 8th of January, iSoo, the following message was received from the President 
by both Houses of Congress : 

Gentlemen of the Senate, and 

Gentlemen of the House of Represefitatives : 

In compliance with the request in one of the resolutions of Congress of the 2ist of 
December last, I transmitted a copy of those resolutions, by my Secretary, Mr. Shaw, to 
Mrs. Washington, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her 
person and character, of their condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, 
and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General George Washington in 
the manner expressed in the first resolution. As the sentiments of that virtuous lady, not 
less beloved by this nation than she is at present greatly afflicted, can never be so well 
expressed as in her own words, I transmit to Congress her original letter. 

It would be an attempt of too much delicacy to make any comments upon it ; but there 
can be no doubt that the nation at large, as well as all the branches of the Government, 
will be highly gratified by any arrangement which may diminish the sacrifice she makes of 
her individual feelings. 

JOHN ADAMS. 

The letter referred to in the above message is as follows : 

Mount Vernon, Dec. 31, 1799. 
Sir : While I feel, with keenest anguish, the late dispensation of Divine Providence, I 
cannot be insensible to the mournful tributes of respect and veneration which are paid to the 
memory of my dear deceased husband ; and as his best services and most anxious wishes 
were always devoted to the welfare and happiness of his country, to know that they were 
truly appreciated, and gratefully remembered, affords no inconsiderable consolation. 

Taught by that great example which I have so long had before me never to oppose my 
private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by Congress, which 
you have had the goodness to transmit to me ; and, in doing this, I need not, I cannot say, 
what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty. 

With grateful acknowledgments, and unfeigned thanks for the personal respect and 
evidences of condolence expressed by Congress and yourself, 

I remain, very'respectfuUy, Sir, 

Your most obedient humble servant, 

MARTHA WASHINGTON. 

Thursday, 8th May, iSoo. 

Mr. Henry Lee made a further report ; which was read, and ordered to be committed 
to a Committee of the Whole House to-day. 

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the 
Whole House on the report* of the committee; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. 

This report recommended the adoption of the following resolutions : 

* Resolved, That the resolution of Congress passed in the year 1783, respecting an equestrian statue 
of General Washington, be carried into immediate execution, and that the statue be placed in the centre 
of an area to be formed in front of the Capitol. 

Resolved, That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol at the City of 
Washington, in honor of General Washington to commemorate his services, and to express the regrets 
of the American people for their irreparable loss. 

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to give such directions as may 
appear to him proper to carry the preceding resolutions into effect ; and that for the present the sum of 
$100,000 be appropriated for these purposes. 



290 Appendix 



Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Parker reported that the committee had, according to 
order, had the said report under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon, which he 
delivered in at the Clerk's table ; where the same was twice read, amended, and agreed to by 
the House, as follows : 

''^Resolved, That a mausoleum be erected for George Washington in the City of 
Washington." * 

The committee have, in discharge of the important duties devolved on them by the 
House, been furnished with the following letters : 

No. I. 

Arlington House, 27M February, 1830. 

Sir : I perceive with the most sincere gratification, that the House of Representatives 
have appointed a committee to report upon a national interment of the venerated remains of 
Washington. 

Permit me to offer to your notice, and through you, sir, to that of the honorable com- 
mittee charged with this interesting subject, certain facts touching the consent of Mrs. 
Washington to the removal of the remains of the Chief, in 1799. 

Mrs. Washington yielded to the request of Government only in the firm and fond belief, 
that, upon her decease, her remains would be permitted to rest by the side of those of her 
beloved husband ; and, in a correspondence, strictly private and confidential, which occurred 
between Colonel Lear, on the part of the bereaved lady, and the first President Adams, 
touching this subject, the venerable and afflicted relict was given to understand that Govern- 
ment could do no other than comply with her just and honored expectations. 

In this belief, Mrs. Washington directed that, upon her decease, her remains should 
be enclosed in a leaden coffin, precisely similar to the one containing the ashes of her illus- 
trious consort, which command has been obeyed to the letter. 

I beg leave, sir, to submit to the honorable committee the copy of a letter addressed to 
the Hon. John Quincy Adams, Ex-President of the United States, with its answer ; also, a 
copy of a letter from Major Lawrence Lewis, the nephew of General Washington, and sole 
acting executor of his will. 

In making these communications, permit me to observe, sir, that I have done no more 
than filial duty required at my hands. It is left for Government to determine whether the 

* The bill itself, providing' "That a mausaleum of American granite and marble, in a pyramidal 
form, one hundred feet square at the base, and of a proportionate height, shall be erected, in testimony 
of the love and gratitude of the citizens of the United States, to George Washington," was considered 
by the Committee of the Whole in the House on December 5, 1800. Mr. Alston moved that the monu- 
ment be of marble and erected in the Capitol. During the debate, Mr. Macon remarked: " W'e are told 
that the best mode of perpetuating the memory of Washington is to erect a mausaleum. I have heard 
of Aristides, I have heard of Hampden, but I have never heard of monuments raised to their memories. 
Yet their virtues shine as bright now as they did,when they lived. I have heard of a place called West- 
minster Abbey, full of the monuments of Kings ; yet, notwithstanding these grand memorials, I have 
heard very little of them after they left this world." 

The bill was further considered on the loth, when Mr. Claiborne said that he preferred " a plain but 
neat tomb-stone of American marble, and prepared by an American artist " ; and wished to see engraved 
upon it the addresses of each House to the President, and his reply, when first they received the announce- 
ment of the loss of their patriot, sage and hero. On the 19th, Mr. Lee made the following report : 

The Committee to whom was committed the bill, directing the erection of a mausoleum to George 
Washington, together with the resolve of Congress, passed the 7th. of August, 1783, ordering an eques- 
trian statue of bronze to be erected to George Washington ; and also a resolution of Congress, of the 
24th. day of December, 17Q9, directing that a marble monument be erected in the Capitol, in the city of 
Washington, have had the same under consideration ; and while they recognize with entire co-operation 
the highly gratifying testimonial of the national estimation of their commander-in-chief, cannot but con- 
sider it as an incomplete exemplification of the national feeling at this day, it having in view only the 
celebration of his military services. To connect with this the erection of an appropriate monum,ent in 
the dome of the Capitol, on a scale commensurate with the virtue and ability of the character thus held 
up as a model to all future generations, would fulfil the general expectation and complete the professions 
of Congress. But from the most accurate inquiry they have been able to make, your committee are of 
opmion, the expense attending the accomplishment of the two resolutions would exceed two hundred 
thousand dollars. 

They cannot, therefore, but recommend an adherence to the plan heretofore adopted by the House, 
combining as it does everv obiect, and that. too. at an expense not exceeding the sum necessary for an 
equestrian statue and marble monument, and to be erected by American artists out of American materials. 

The bill passed the House on January i, t8oi ; hut, when it finally came to the Senate, after various 
amendments, its consideration was postponed, on March 3d, by a vote of 14 to 13. 



Appendix 291 



remains of those who were endeared to each other by forty years of happy and eventful life, 
shall become separate in the lasting repose of the tomb. 
I have the honor to be, 

With perfect respect. 

Your obedient humble servant, 

GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS. 
To the Hon. George E. Mitchell, Esq. 

Cliah-man of Committee ^ dfc. dfc. Sr'c. 

No. 2. 

Arlington House, 2Sth Feb. 1820. 

Dear Sir : I perceive with much pleasure, and truly much surprise, that Government, 
after the lapse of thirty years, has at last determined to give national rites of sepulture to 
the venerated remains of Washington, thus enabling his country to declare, in the words of 
the divine bard, 

" Such honors Ilion to her Hero paid ! 

" And peaceful sleeps the mighty Hector's shade." 

In 1799, when Mrs. Washington, yielding to the request of Congress, gave her consent 
for the removal of the remains of the Chief, a correspondence occurred between Col. Lear, 
on the part of the bereaved lady, and your venerable parent, the late President Adams, in 
which the Colonel urged that the consent of Mrs. Washington had only been obtained upon 
an understanding, that, on the decease of the afHicted reHct, her remains should be con- 
signed to the same sepulchre as should be provided by Government for those of her beloved 
husband. I always understood from Col. Lear, that the letters of President Adams assured 
Mrs. Washington that a request so just and honored as was hers, to be interred by the side 
of her illustrious consort, would meet with no objections from Government. 

If, sir, in the course of your examinations of the papers of the late President Adams, 
you shall have met with any documents touching this interesting subject, will you have the 
kindness to forward copies of the same to the honorable comijiittee charged with reporting 
on the national interment of the remains of Washington. 

With great respect, 

I have the honor to be, dear sir. 

Your obedient humble servant, 

GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS. 
The Hon. John Quincy Adams. 

No. 3. 

Washington, February 26, 1830. 
G. W. P. CusTis, Esq., Arlijigton House. 

Dear Sir : I find among my father's manuscripts a copy of a letter from him to your 
venerated grandmother, dated 27th December, 1799, purporting to enclose, by William 
Smith Shaw, a copy of the resolutions of Congress, passed on the 24th of that month, and 
entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General Washington under the 
marble monument to be erected in the Capitol, at the City of Washington, to commemorate 
the great events of his military and political life. 

The answer to this letter is not among my father's papers here. It was transmitted by 
him to Congress, with a message, dated 8th January, 1800, which is upon the Journals of 
both Houses on that day. There is in the message itself an intimation, expressing, as I 
understand it, my father's opinio7i, all that he could give, upon the subject to which your 
letter refers. 'I find no second letter from him, nor any paper showing that any thing 
further had passed between them on this occasion. I cannot imagine that there should be 
any question among those who incline to perform the promise of Congress at all, in what 
manner they ought to perform it. 

The request of Congress was not that one-half of General Washington's remains should 
be transferred to the Capitol. 

I am, dear sir, respectfully. 

Your friend, 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



292 Appendix 

No. 4. 

Wood Lawn, February 24, 1830. 

My dear Sir : I observe the resolutions of Congress, of the 23d December, 1799, 
and the messag-e of President Adams, of the 8th January, 1800, respecting the entombment 
in the Capitol of the remains of General Washington, are, by a resolution of Mr. Mitchell, 
again before Congress. 

Mr. Hayner stated, that, in order to obviate any objection which might possibly arise, 
he would inform the House he was authorized to state, that the resolution, if adopted, could 
be carried into effect without any opposition on the part of the family of General Washington. 

Nothing is said of the remains of Mrs. Washington ; assuredly they do not mean to 
separate the bodies. 

These resolutions will be submitted to a Select Committee of one member from each 
State in the Union. I think this committee ought to be informed that the family of 
Washington will not consent to a separation of the bodies. I am sure your venerable grand 
parent expressed her views and wishes on this subject to President Adams. 
I am, my dear sir, truly and sincerely. 

Yours, 

LAWRENCE LEWIS. 
To George W. P. Custis, Esq. of Arlington. 

It thus appears that the family of General George Washington have consented, and now 
expect, that his remains, united with those of his beloved consort, may be entombed in the 
city distinguished by his name ; and that the American people do intend to erect and con- 
secrate to his memory some monumental memorials, appropriate to the endeared and vene- 
rated character of the illustrious Father of his Country. The sub-committee do, therefore, 
after full advisement, and the most mature consideration, recommend that it be, 

Resolved, That the leaden coffin, containing the remains of General George W^ashington, 
be removed from the family vault at Mount Vernon, and that the same be deposited in a 
marble sarcophagus, and entombed in the vault heretofore prepared for that purpose, under 
the central dome of the Capitol ; that building, erected by the people for the accommodation 
of their Government, being the most appropriate mausoleum for the great founder of it. 
The remains of Mrs. Washington, now united with those of her illustrious consort in the 
repose of the tomb, shall at the same time be removed, and being deposited in another 
marble sarcophagus, shall be entombed by his side in the same national sepulchre. On the 
lid of each sarcophagus shall be inscribed the name, day of the birth, death, and entombment 
of each, respectively. Immediately over the centre of this tomb, and on the ground floor 
of the Capitol, shall be placed a marble cenotaph, in the form of a well proportioned sar- 
cophagus, on the lid of which shall be sculptured, in large letters, the name, day of the birth, 
death, place and day of entombment, of that illustrious man. Immediately above this, in 
the centre of the Rotundo, a full length marble pedestrian statue of Washington, wrought by 
the best artist of the present time, shall be placed on a circular pedestal, formed from the 
same material, of such width and height, being not less than four feet, as will be propor- 
tionate to the dimensions of that appartment. This pedestal shall be finished in the most 
perfect style of workmanship, but without the ornament of any device, either of emblem or 
legend, other than the name of George Washington, to whose memory this monument is 
consecrated. 

Your committee believe that these memorials, little costly and ostentatious as they may 
appear, will better accord with the feelings of this nation, and more appropriately com- 
memorate the pure and elevated character of our Washington, than could any, the most 
expensive or splendid monument or mausoleum. When it is kept in mind that, although 
this age has produced the greatest statesman and captains known in all history, yet the high 
characters of those who have arisen in the world, either before or since his time, do but 
illustrate and render more eminent the distinguishing qualities of his worth and glory ; so 
that the American people can never be deprived of the most revered and enduring monu- 
ments of this venerated man, so long as they shall continue to cherish and preserve their 
Independence, Government, and National Union, achieved by his toil, valor, and wisdom. 

For the Sub-committee. 

TRISTAM BURGES. 



Appendix 293 

The report of the sub-committee being read and considered, it was 
Resolved That the select committee do approve of and adopt the said report ; and that 
their Chairman be directed to report the same to the House of Representatives, with the 
following resolutions conformable thereto, viz : 

Joint resolutions providing for the national entombment of the remains of General George 
Washington, and for a pedestrian statue of that General. \ 

Resolvedly the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Atnerica 
in Congress^assembled, That the remains of General George Washington be removed, with 
suitable funeral honors, from the family vault at Mount Vernon, conducted under the 
direction of a joint committee of both Houses of Congress, on the day of December 
next and entombed in the national sepulchre to be prepared for that purpose under the 
centre dome of the Capitol in the city of Washington, according to a plan recommended by 
a report of a select committee, made to the House of Representatives on the day of 

March, 1830. , , ,tt , • ^ c 

And be it further resolved. That the remains of Mrs. Martha Washington, consort of 
the late General George Washington, shall at the same time be removed, and entombed m 
the same sepulchre. _ r ^ ■> r- 

And be i't further resolved. That a full length pedestrian statue of General George 
Washington be, and the same is hereby, ordered to be obtained, to be executed by some 
distino-uished artist, and of the best materials ; and said statue, when executed, shall be 
placed in the centre of the rotundo of the Capitol, conformably to the plan recommended m 
the report of a committee herein before mentioned : and the President shall be, and he is 
hereby authorized and requested to direct the execution of the said statue, with a suitable 
pedestal of the same material, and to cause the same to be placed m the place herein desig- 
nated. , , , -UK 

And be it ftirther resolved, That the sum of dollars be, and the same is hereby, 

appropriated, for the purpose of carrying these resolutions into effect. 



Copy Journal of House of Representatives February- 24, 1832. 

Washington, Feby 24th 1832 

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States : 

One of his associates not having arrived at Washington, and the other having declined 
to act • in performance of the honorable trust confided to us by the Governor of Virginia 
the undersigned takes upon himself the honor to transmit to the Speaker of the House ot 
Representatives of the United States, the envelope directed to him by the Governor ot Vir- 
<rinia covering the resolutions of the General Assembly, laying claim to the remains of our 
fllustrious fellow-citizen, George Washington ; also, covering a letter from the Governor ot 
Viro-inia accompanving the resolutions ; and, in the discharge of this duty, he takes eave 
to Remark, that, whilst the people of Virginia are proud of the gratitude of their fellow- 
citizens of the United States for the eminent public services of the Father of his Country ; 
and also for their high admiration of his patriotic virtues manifested by the successive 
resolutions of Congress ; they also justly anticipate the frank acquiescence of their tellow- 
citizens of the United States in the paramount claim of his Native State to the sacred remains 

of her Washington. - -nnr^^^-r- 

Francis T. Brooke. 

Virginia. 
Executive DEPART\rE:cT, February 20, 1S32. 

To Andrew Stevenson, Esq., 

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States : 
Sir ■ The Honorable Francis T. Brooke, Chief Justice John Afarshall, and Mayor 
Tames Gibbon, the friends and brother officers of Washington in the war of the revolution 
are the bearers of this communication, and of the resolutions adopted by the General 



294 Appendix 



Assembly of this State expressive of their feelings, and those of the citizens of this Common- 
wealth, with regard to the contemplated removal of the remains of Washington from Mount 
Vernon by the Congress of the United States. 

Agreeably to the wish of the General Assembly, I have the honor to request you to 
receive and lay the resolutions of that body before the House of Representatives of the 
United States. 

I am, Sir, with consideration and respect, 

Your Obedient Servant, 

John Floyd. 

The General Assembly of Virginia view, with anxious solicitude, the efforts now mak- 
ing by the Congress of the United States, to remove from Mount Vernon the remains of 
George Washington. Such removal is not necessary to perpetuate the fame of him who 
was " first in war and first in peace," nor can it be necessary to perpetuate and strengthen 
the national gratitude for him who was " first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

The fact that Virginia has been the birth-place of the best and most illustrious man 
that ever lived, is naturally calculated to inspire her citizens with a strong desire to keep his 
remains enshrined in the land of his nativity ; and this desire is increased by the considera- 
tion that the burial ground was designated by the dying patriot himself : Therefore, 

Resolved Unanimously, That the proprietor be earnestly requested, in the name of 
the people of this State, not to consent to the removal of the remains of George Washington 
from Mount Vernon. 

Resolved Unanimously, That the Governor of this Commonwealth forthwith make 
known the feelings and wishes of the General Assembly upon the subject, in the most 
appropriate manner, to the present proprietor of Mount Vernon, and the Congress of the 
United States. 

Agreed to by both Houses, February 20, 1S32. 

George W. Munford C. H. D. 



Copy Journal of Senate February 16, 1832. 

Washington, February 14, 1832. 
Sir : The Senate and House of Representatives have passed a joint resolution to cele- 
brate the centennial birth day of George Washington, which authorizes the President of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make application to you for his 
remains, to be removed and deposited in the Capitol at Washington, in conformity with the 
resolution of Congress of the 24''' December, 1799. 

They have passed another joint resolution, authorizing us to make application to you 
and Mr. George Washington Parke Custis for the remains of Martha Washington, to be 
removed and deposited at the same time with those of her late consort, George Washington. 
We herewith enclose copies of these resolutions, and, in the discharge of the duty im- 
posed on us, have to request that you will give as early an answer to this application as may 
be practicable. 

We have the honor to be. 

With great respect. 

Your Obedient Servants, 

J. C. Calhoun, 
Vice President^ and President of the Senate. 

A. Stevenson, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Mr. John a. Washington, 

Mount Vernon. 

Washington, February 14* 1832. 
Sir : The Senate and House of Representatives have passed a joint resolution author- 
izing the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to ask the 
consent of Mr. John A. Washington and yourself to remove the remains of Mrs. Martha 



Appendix 295 



Washington to the City of Washington, on the 22"^ instant to be there deposited with 
those of her consort, George Washington. 

We herewith enclose copies of these resolutions, and, in the discharge of the duty 
imposed on us, have to request that you will give as early an answer to this application as 
may be practicable. 

We have the honor to be. 

With great respect. 

Your Obedient Servants, 

J. C. Calhoun, 
Vice President and President of the Senate, 

A. Stevenson, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Mr. Geo. W. P. Custis. 



Mount Vernon, February 15, 1832. 
To the Hon.. The President of the Senate, 

And the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the U. S. 

Gentlemen : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and the resolutions of 
Congress to carry into complete effect that which was adopted in December, 1799, for the 
removal of the remains of General Washington to the Seat of Government. 

I have received with profound sensibility this expression of the desire of Congress, 
representing the whole nation, to have the custody and care of the remains of my revered 
relative ; and the struggle which it has produced in my mind between a sense of duty to 
the highest authorities of my Country and private feelings, has been greatly embarrassing. 
But when I recollect that his will, in respect to the disposition of his remains, has been 
recently carried into full effect, and that they now repose in perfect tranquility surrounded 
by those of other endeared members of the family, I hope Congress will do justice to the 
motives which seem to me to require that I should not consent to their separation. 

I pray you, gentlemen, to communicate these sentiments and feelings to Congress, with 
the grateful acknowledgments of the whole of the relatives of my grand-uncle for the dis- 
tinguished honor which was intended to his memory, and to accept for yourselves assurances 
of my gratitude and esteem. 

John A. Washington. 



Arlington House, Tuesday Night, Feb. 14. 
Gentlemen : The letter you have done me the honor to write to me, requesting my con- 
sent to the removal of the remains of my venerable grand parents from their present resting 
place to the Capitol, I have this moment received. 

I give my most hearty consent to the removal of the remains, after the manner requested, 
and congratulate the Government upon the approaching consumation of a great act of Na- 
tional gratitude. 

I have the honor to be. 

With perfect respect, gentlemen, 
Your obedient servant, 

George Washington P. Custis. 
To the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, 
Vice President, and 
Andrew Stevenson, 

ker H. R. U. S. 



296 



Appendix 







's^ =^J (ii;;^ 



THE BASEMENT OF THE CAPITOL. 



HOUSE WING. 

Room. 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 
Committee on Insular Affairs. 
Committee on Agriculture. 
Stationery room. 
Committee on War Claims. 
Official stenographers to committees. 
8. Official Reporters of Debates. 

[• Speaker's private rooms. 

Committee on Library. 
Office of Sergeant-at-Arms. 
House Post-Office. 

'3i- > Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 



Clerk s document room. 



M 
15 
15^. Barber shops. 

16. Closets. 

17. Bo.\ room. 

18. 19, 20. Restaurant. 
Merged in restaurant. 
Committee on Indian Affairs. 
Committee on Accounts. 
Committee on War Claims. 
Elevators. 

HOUSE COMMITTEES. TERRACE, SOUTH 
SIDE. 

1. Committee on Alcoholic Liquor Traffic. 

2. Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisher- 

ies. 

3. Committee on Expenditures in the Agricultural 

Department. 

5. Committee on Mines and Mining. 

6. Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. 

7. Committee on the Election of President, Vice- 

President and Representatives in Congress. 
9. Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands in the 

United States. 
II. Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings. 
13. Committee on Manufactures. 
15. Committee on Elections No. 3. 
17. Committee on Expenditures in the Post-Office 

Department. 
Note. — Rooms occupied by the House Committees 
on Reform in the Civil Service, Levees and Improve- 
ments of Mississippi River , Expenditures in the De- 



partment of Justice, Expenditures in the Navy De- 
jjartment, Territories, also Office of Index Clerk, are 
not shown on the diagrams. They are located in the 
sub-basement, west front, on the house side of center 
of building. 

MAIN BUILDING. 
Room. 

49. Senate Committee on the Census. 

50. Senate Committee on the Library. 

51. Senate Committee on Education and Labor. 

52. House Committee on Labor. 

53. House Committee on the Census. 



House Committee on Rivers and Harbors. 



54*- I 

55. House Committee on Education. 

House Committee on Revision of the Laws. 

House Committee on Ventilation and Acoustics. 

Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads. 

Senate Committee on Additional Accommoda- 
tions for the Library of Congress. 

Storeroom for Library. 

Storeroom, Supreme Court. 

Senate bathroom. 
64, 65. The Supreme Court — consultation room. 
66. Congressional Law Library, formerly the Su- 
preme Court room. 

Congressional Law Library. 

( Office of Doorkeeper of tlie House. 

1 Office of superintendent of folding room. 

House Committee on Private Land Claims. 

Offices of the Chief Clerk of the House. 

Committee on Printing. 

House Committee on Expenditures in the Inte- 
rior Department. 

House Committee on Militia. 

Committee room on Alcoholic Liquor Traffic 
merged in the Disbursing office. 

SENATE WING. 

Committee on Rules. 
Committee on the Revision of the Laws. 
Committee on Relations with Cuba. 
Committee on Military Affairs. 
Committee on the Philippines. \ 

!■ Committee on the Judiciary. 

Committee on Indian Affairs. 
Stationery room. 



Appendix 



297 



Room. 

36. Restaurant. 

37. Stationery room. 

38. Committee on Public Lands. 
3g. Police Headquarters. 

40. Committee on Immigration. 

41. Committee on Territories. 

42. Ladies' room. 
42^. Janitor's room. 

43. Committee on Ag'riculture. 

44. Committee on Relations with Canada. 

^l' • Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. 



49- 
SI- 



Senate Post-Office. 
Committee on Printing 
Elevator. 
Gentlemen's room. 



SENATE COMMITTEES. 
TERRACE, NORTH SIDE. 
Room. 

2. Mines and Mining. 

3. On Potomac River Front. 

4, 6. Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands. 

5. On Coast Defenses. 

9. Industrial E.xpositions. 
II. Indian Depredations. 

13. To Examine the Several Branches of the Civil 
Service. 

Note. — Rooms occupied by Senate Committees on 
Transportation and Sale of Meat Products, and Five 
Civilized Tribes of Indians are not shown on the 
diagrams. They are located in the sub-basement, 
west front, on the Senate side of center building. 




THE PRINCIPAL FLOOR OF THE CAPITOL. 



HOUSE WING. 



Room. 



2. /-Appropriations. 



Journal, printing and file clerks of the House. 

Committee on Pensions. 

Closets. 



5- 
6. 

7-} , . . 

8. >- Members retirmg room. 



10. Speaker's room. 
12. Cloakrooms. 

^•^" [ Committee on Ways and Means, 



Committee on Military Affairs. 

House Library. 

Elevators. 

[ Committee on Naval Affairs. 



Committee on the District of Columbia. 

Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 

Committee on the Louisiana Purchase Centen- 
nial. 

Committee on Patents. 

Commit'tee on Expenditures in the Treasury 
Department. 

MAIN BUILDING. 

House document room. 

Engrossing and enrolling clerks of the House. 



Room. 

35. Committee on Enrolled Bills 



36. 



Office of the Clerk of the House of Representa- 
tives. It was in this room, then occupied by 
the Speaker of the House, that ex-President 
John Quincy Adams died, two days after he 
fell ar his seat in the House, February 23, 
1848. 

Office of he Clerk of the Supreme Court. 

Robing room of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court. 

Withdrawing room of the Supreme Court. 

Office of the Marshal of the Supreme Court. 

]■ Committee on Pensions. 



Committee on Foreign Relations. 
Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico. 
Committee on Enrolled Bills. 
- Committee on Interoceanic Canals. 

The Supreme Court, formerly the Senate 
Chamber. 

The Old Hall of the House of Representa- 
tives is now used as a statuary hall, to which 
each State has been invited to contribute two 
statues of its most distinguished citizens. 

SENATE WING. 

Office of the Secretary of the Senate, 
Executive clerk of the Senate. 
Financial clerk of the Senate. 



29< 



Appendix 



^ 



Room. 

Chief Clerk of the Senate. 

Engrossing and enrolling clerks of the Senate. 

!■ Committee on Appropriations. 

23. Closets. 

Cloakrooms. 

Room of the President. 

The Senators' reception room. 



Room. 

27. The Vice-President's room. 



Committee on Finance. 

Official Reporters of Debates. 

Public reception room. 

Committee on the District of Columbia. 

Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate. 

Elevator. 




THE GALLERY STORY OF THE CAPITOL. 



/ HOUSE WING. 

Room. 

1. Committee on Elections No. 2. 

2. Committee on Elections. 

3. Committee on Banking and Currency. 

4. Committee on Claims. 

5. Committee on Railways and Canals. 

6. Lobby. 

7. Correspondents and journalists' withdrawing 

room. 

^' I Water-closet. 
9- i 

10. Ladies retiring room. 

11. Committee on the Public Lands. 

12. Committee on Commerce. 

13. Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

14. Committee on the Judiciary. 

15. Elevators. 

39. Committee on Mileage. 

40. Committee on Pacific Railroads. 

41. Minority room. 

^'^' > Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures. 

44. Committee on E.xpdt. in the State Department. 

45. Committee on Expdt. in the War Department. 

MAIN BUILDING. 

27. Senate Library. 

Senate Library — Librarian's room. 
Senate Committee on Public Health and Na- 
tional Quarantine. 
Senate Committee on Woman Suffrage. 

Senate document room. 



Roo: 

34' 
35 
36 



19. f 



Superintendent of the Senate documents. 
House Library. 

• House document room. 

Clerk's office. 

Senate document room. 

Committee on Transportation Routes to Sea- 
board. 

Committee on Improvement of the Mississippi 
River and its Tributaries. 

Committee on Private Land Claims. 

Committee on Geological Survey. 

Committee on Railroads. 
I Committee on Organization, Conduct and Ex- 
j penditures of the Executive Departments. 

SENATE WING. 

Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 

> Committee on Interstate Commerce. 

Committee on Privileges and Elections. 

Committee on Commerce. 

Press associations : Western Union and Postal 

Telegraphs. 
Newspaper Correspondents' room. 
Ladies' room. 

Committee on Naval Affairs. 
Conference room of the minority. 
Committee on Claims. 
Committee on Engrossed Bills. 
Elevator. 
Correspondents' room. 



NDEX 



Acoustics, 227 

Adams, John, portrait of, 157 
Adams, J. Q. A., bust of, 236 
deatli of, 224 
election of, 220 
Adams, Samuel, statue of, 232 
Agriculture, Committee on, 192 
Allen, Ethan, statue of, 229 
Allen, William, statue of, 229 

B 

Baker, speech of, 178 
statue of, 234 

Baptism of Pocahontas, 122, 131 

Battle of Chapultepec, 158 

Battle of Lake Erie, 168 

Bedford, portrait of, 2og 

Benton and Foote, quarrel of, 147 

Booth, 79 

Bronze doors, Rogers', 90 
Senate, 164 
House, 213 

Brumidi, 95, 182, 192 

Bulfinch, 44 

Burning of the Capitol, 1814, 33 

Busts of Chief Justices, 143 



Calhoun, farewell to Senate, 148 

funeral of, 151 

portrait of, 171 
California landscape (Bierstadt), 203 
Camp Life at the Capitol, 242 
Campus, 74 
Canopy, 96 
Capitals, Americanized-Corinthian, 164 

Corinthian, 56, 235 

" Corncob," 185 

Doric, 188 

Ionic, 140 

Latrobe, 237 

semi-Corinth'an, 191 

Tobacco, 140 
Capitol, east front, ii 
west front, 71 



Capitol, 1807, 27 

1814, 34 
1828, 49 
1850, 51 
Carroll, portrait of, 209 
Cass, statue of, 229 
Centennial Celebration, 1893, 84 
Centennial Tea Celebration, 259 
Ceres, statue of, 89 
Chase, Chief Justice, funeral of, 180 
Chasm of the Colorado (Moran), 171 
Christian Endeavor Celebration, 84 
Clark, 68, 137 
Clay, farewell of, 149 
funeral of, 151 
portrait of, in House, 209 
portrait of, in Senate, 171 
Clinton, statue of, 230 
Clock, House, 201 

Statuary Hall, 228, 261 
Collamer, statue of, 229 
Congress, first meeting of, in Washington, 26 

rules, etc., 249 
Consultation room of justices, 184 
Corner-stone of extensions, 53 

of Federal District, 7 
of Capitol, 22 
Court of Claims, 190 
Coxey's army, 79 
Crawford, bust of, 230 
Crypt, 188 

D 
Declaration of Independence, 102, no 
Dewey at the Capitol, 238, 239 
Discovery (Fersico), 89 
Discovery of the Hudson, 203 
Discovery of the Mississippi, 121, 127 
District of Columbia, Committee on, 167 
establishment of, 2 
Dix, portrait of, 176 
Dome, 60 

entrance and view, 62 



E 



Electoral Commission, 171 
Electoral count, 208 
EUicott, ID 



300 



Index 



Embarkation of the Pilgrims, ii8 
Emory, Matthew G. , 54 
Extensions, marble, 51 



First F"ight of Ironclads, 175 

Flags, 61 

Floor, privilege of, 250 

Foote, Benton and, quarrel of, 147 

Franklin, statue of, 167 

Fresco, 96 

Frieze, gS 

Fulton, statue of, 229 



G 



Garfield, memorial exercises of, 207 

mosaic of, 176 

remains in state, 126 

statue of, 229 

Tea Party, 259 
Garland, death of, 238 
Giddings, portrait of, 235 
Goddess of Freedom, 64 
Grand Canon of the Yellowstone (Moran) 

171 
Greene, statue of, 229 
Guiteau, 79 

H 
Hadfield, 18 
Hallet, 15 

Hamilton, statue of, 230 
Hancock, statue of, 157 
Heating, 258 

Henry, Joseph, memorial exercises of, 207 
Henry, Patrick, portrait of, 157 
Hoban, 21 
Hospital, 256 
House Chamber, igg, 205 

uses of, 250 
House, places of meeting, 26, 27, 28, 38, 39, 

40, 59 

I 

Impeachment of Belknap, 179 

of Samuel Chase, 146 
of Johnson, 179 
of Pickering, 146 
Inaugurations, 80 

of Arthur. 161 

of Fillmore, 220 

of Jefferson, 144 

of Madison, 220 

of Monroe, 220 

of McKinley, 239 

J 

Jackson, attempted assassination of, 223 
Jay, portrait of, 155 



Jefferson, election of, by House, 26 
library of, 135 
portrait of, 157 
statues of, 213, 234 

Justices of the Supreme Court, 142 

K 

Kalakaua, reception of, 160 
Kearney, statue of, 230 
King, statue of, 232 
Kosciuszko, bust of, 235 
Kossuth, reception of, 253 



Lafayette, picture of, 203 

reception of, 253 
Landing of Columbus, 121, 123 
Latrobe, 27 
L'Enfant, 7 
Librarians, 13S 
Library, Congressional, 134 

Law, 1S5 
Lighting, 25S 
Lincoln, bust of, 230 

memorial exercises of, 206 

mosaic of, 176 

remains in state, 126 

statue of, 230 
Liquor at the Capitol, 256 
Livingston, statue of, 234 
Logan, remains in state, 130 

M 

Mace, Great, 216 
Madison, Mrs., letter of , 34 
Marble room. 160 
Marquette, statue of, 230 
Mars, statue of, 89 
Marshall, statue of, 73 

picture of, 199 
McKinley, in state, 240 

memorial of, 248 
Military Affairs, Committee on, 183 
Morse, memorial exercises of, 206 

painting of old House of Represent- 
atives, 221 

telegraph of, 191 
Muhlenberg, statue of, 228 

N 
National Art and Industrial Exposition, 260 



Parking, 50, 86 
Pediment, central, 87 
Senate, 88 



Index 



301 



Police, 245 

President's room, 158 

Princes at the Capitol, 244 

Prison, 243 

Proclamation of Emancipation, 209 

Public reception room, 162 

Pulawski, bust of, 235 



Recall of Columbus, 169 
Relievos, 122 

Remains in state in rotunda, 126 
Rescue (Greenough), 89 
Robing room of the justices, 153 
Rogers' bronze doors, go 
Rotunda, 94 



Senate Chamber, 176 

uses of, 250 
Senate, places of meeting, 26, 32, 38, 39, 

40, 59 
Sherman, statue of, 228 
Shields, statue of, 230 
Speaker's lobby, 194 
Speaker's room, 194 
Stark, statue of, 230 
Statuary, 228 
Statuary Hall, 218 
Statues, 237 
Stairways, bronze, 193 
Stevens, remains in state, 126 
Stockton, statue of, 230 
Sumner, assault upon, 152 

funeral of, 181 

portrait of, 176 
Superintendent of the Capitol, 240, 241 
Supreme Court, 141 
Supreme Court chamber, 140, 143 

former chamber, 186 
Surrender of General Burgoyne, 106, 113 
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, no, 114 



Tablet, Centennial, 85 

Taulbee-Kincaid affair, 217 

Terrace, 67 

Thornton, 15, 21 

Trumbull, John, paintings of, loi 

Trumbull, Jonathan, statue of, 228 



V 



Vice-President's room, 160 



W 



Waite, funeral of, 207 
Walter, 52 

Washington, headquarters of (Brumidi), 204 
painting of (Charles Willson 

Peale), 181 
painting of (Vanderlyn), 202 
portrait of (Rembrandt Peale), 

5, 160 
portrait of (Stuart), 157 
statue of (Greenough), 74 
statue of (Houdon), 232 
tomb and statue of, 188 
Resigning his Commission, 
114, 117 
Webster, farewell of, 151 

oration at laying of corner-stone, 

55 
portrait of, 171 
statue of, 230 
West, portrait of, 190 

memorial from sons of, 273 
Westward the Course of Empire takes its 

Way, 195 
Williams, statue of, 230 
Wilson, death of, 161 
Winthrop, statue of, 230 
Woods, Elliott, 240, 241 






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